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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942972">Typical Friday</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylaer/pseuds/kylaer'>kylaer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Angst and Humor, Crack Fic, Fluff, Han Jisung | Han &amp; Lee Felix are Best Friends, Jisung-centric, Lee Felix-centric (Stray Kids), M/M, Not beta-read, Sort Of, Suicidal Thoughts, Zombie AU, Zombie Apocalypse, all lowercase, but it's mainly from his pov, but not until later in the story, han jisung centric, it's for The Aesthetic, just jisung for the first few chapters but the others join soon, other relationships may develop, skz zombie au, slightly aged-down characters, the others are there and just as important</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:35:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,854</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylaer/pseuds/kylaer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He’d been telling himself there was no way this week could get any worse. There was no way his life hadn’t already hit relative rock bottom. </p><p>And yet, here he was, hiding in his basement as a bunch of crawlers raided his kitchen. </p><p>Just your typical Friday.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>264</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. crawlers and katanas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>jisung should have known better. </p><p> </p><p>he should have seen it coming, really. </p><p> </p><p>he’d been telling himself there was no way this week could get any worse. there was no way his life hadn’t already hit relative rock bottom. </p><p> </p><p>i mean, his fucking xbox croaked and his dog died -- both on fucking <em> monday </em> of all days -- so there was no way the bar could have been set any lower. </p><p> </p><p>and yet, here he was, hiding in his basement as a bunch of crawlers raided his kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>just your typical friday. </p><p> </p><p>jisung contemplated many things in the few hours he’d been trapped down there, a broken baseball bat in hand. mainly if it was worth it, trying to survive through the apocalypse when it was so easy to just <em> die </em>.  </p><p> </p><p>and really, it was so simple. jisung could just walk up the creaky steps, open the door, make his presence known, and those crawlers would be on him in seconds. he’d be dead moments later. if he really felt like it, there were probably many other (more creative) ways he could die, just lying in his basement. </p><p> </p><p>and yet, even after all of those death jokes he’d always made, he realized death was frightening when you were actually looking it in the eyes. he didn’t want to die. </p><p> </p><p>and so he continued contemplating. he wondered if maybe he could take them on. he doubted it, really, but he had a broken baseball bat, and maybe thirty of his father’s dumbells of various weights and sizes collecting dust over in the corner, so maybe chucking stuff at the crawlers and making a run for it could work?</p><p> </p><p>but facing <em> one </em>crawler, let alone the three-to-five traipsing around his kitchen, was terrifying. and so, once again, he continued contemplating. </p><p> </p><p>there was enough frozen food in the freezer to last him maybe two weeks - maybe four at the most - depending on how much he rationed, how much was freezer burnt, how much was actually edible without being heated up, and how long the power would stay running to keep the freezer working. with any luck, he could probably survive down here until the crawlers emptied his kitchen and moved on. </p><p> </p><p>but there was no water in the basement, meaning jisung would be living off of melted popsicles for a while. </p><p> </p><p>even then, jisung didn’t necessarily like that idea, either. it was probably the smartest idea when it all came down to it, but jisung couldn’t just sit down in his basement, alone, without a shower and limited food options, for that long. he’d go stir-crazy, definitely. maybe by that point, he’d be willing enough to welcome death with open arms. </p><p> </p><p>he wasn’t exactly looking forward to that, so he contemplated. again.</p><p> </p><p>when jisung finally came up with a relatively okay enough idea, he figured he had to have been down there for at least four or five hours. he’d explored his basement a bit, wary of any spiders or other bugs that would try to crawl on him, and found some supplies he deemed apocalypse-worthy. </p><p> </p><p>a katana. </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t quite know why his parents had a katana. it wasn’t like they were actually interesting people -- just a man and woman who worked for a boring power plant and gave birth to jisung roughly seventeen years ago because it was “convenient”. they weren’t fun parents either, mostly strict and annoying when it came to jisung going out and being with his friends.</p><p> </p><p>so why they had something as fun and exciting as an actual real-life weapon in the storage room of their basement, jisung didn’t know. </p><p> </p><p>he’d also found one of his old backpacks. it was small and frozen-themed, elsa smirking up at him from where she was printed onto one of the larger pockets. it had his name embroidered into it and everything. there was nostalgia laced into every disgusting stain that littered the backpack, and the nasty smell it emitted nearly made him hurl. </p><p> </p><p>he ditched that, and continued digging through the tupperware container he found it in until he pulled out an acceptable backpack; large, durable, multiple pockets both big and small, and it was black, meaning it wouldn’t attract attention like a fucking bright blue elsa backpack would. </p><p> </p><p>jisung knew his house wasn’t safe - the crawlers in his kitchen (and probably taking an unsolicited tour through the rest of his house, too) were proof enough. and, in reality, it probably wouldn’t be long until they found a way into the basement, either. </p><p> </p><p>but if he wanted to survive (which he decided was something he would definitely try his hardest to do, at least until he lost his will to live) he’d need supplies — from all across his house. his basement was plentiful in weaponry, of course, but none of the frozen food would last long outside of the freezer.</p><p> </p><p>and then came the clothing issue — it was winter and all he had on was a pair of basketball shorts, (he was still sleeping when the crawlers started trying to break in — sue him) so he’d need to go to his bedroom and stock up on as many clothes as he could carry with him/stuff in his backpack, as well as stockable food and other necessary items. </p><p> </p><p>like fucking deodorant, for starters. </p><p> </p><p>first, though, he’d need to get rid of the crawlers lurking through his house.</p><p> </p><p>he’d seen enough zombie apocalypse movies and tv shows to know, generally, how to deal with the undead. but simply knowing how to kill and distract the crawlers was an entirely different ballpark from actually putting these methods into practice -- especially when jisung knew next to nothing about this version of the undead, specifically. </p><p> </p><p>all he really knew was that they walked on all-fours like an animal or a baby learning to crawl, hence the nickname “crawler”. </p><p> </p><p>but he knew nothing else. they could be attracted to noise or to bright colors and movement. they could be blind either during the nighttime or daytime or even both, or they could have better sight than humans could ever hope for. they could be attracted to certain scents or could hate the smell of some things. they could be fast or extremely slow. </p><p> </p><p>any which way, jisung had no clue how to deal with these things. he didn’t even know if they could die. </p><p> </p><p>but he wouldn’t be jisung if he wasn’t a daredevil, and so he formulated a plan; fuck shit up and try not to die. </p><p> </p><p>...he formulated maybe a fourth of a plan -- two-fifths of a plan if he counted “gather weapons and supplies” to the end and beginning of said plan. </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t leave himself much time to think it all through, knowing that if he sat on it any longer, he wouldn’t be able to go through with it. and so he filled his backpack with some cheap popsicles from the freezer (they were still drinkable melted, so they could come in handy), some of the lighter-weight dumbbells, a flashlight and extra batteries of all sorts of sizes from the tv stand to go with it, and anything else he found that was deemed useful. he shoved his broken baseball bat into one of the side pockets and finally slung the backpack over his shoulders, grabbed the katana and a twenty-pound dumbbell, and stood at the bottom of the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>jisung was terrified. he was barefoot and shirtless and hardly prepared, and yet here he was, steeling himself to attack a bunch of mindless animals. undead humans with issues. whatever the fuck they were. </p><p> </p><p>if he had to pee, he probably would have pissed his pants hours ago from sheer terror. </p><p> </p><p>this whole situation was less than ideal, jisung concluded, but it was just something he’d have to get used to -- like a completely unnecessary “upgrade” to a game that just made playing it harder. </p><p> </p><p>except this was real life, and jisung didn’t even know how to navigate life <em>before </em>the upgrade.</p><p> </p><p>jisung was insane. he must have been. otherwise, he wouldn’t have begun his ascension up the basement stairs, careful to keep his steps light and to skip the extra-creaky planks of wood. </p><p> </p><p>when he reached the top, he held his breath. he listened carefully for any sign of a crawler on the opposite side of the door and strained his ears to hear even farther away. </p><p> </p><p>some shuffling coming from the direction of his kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>but other than that, jisung heard nothing. not from above him, where the stairs that would take him to the top floor lie. and not from the opposite direction of the kitchen, where a crawler could have been watching tv in his living room -- cause what crawler doesn’t want to watch the friday-afternoon news?</p><p> </p><p>that didn’t mean the rest of the house was safe, though. it just meant there were only actively-moving crawlers in the kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>oh, how jisung hoped there was only one. how he hoped he sleep-walked his way to the basement and everything else was just a weird dream and the shuffling was just his parents finally home from work. how he hoped his imagination was just playing tricks on him. </p><p> </p><p>jisung had always been a wishful thinker. </p><p> </p><p>with one last deep breath -- a sorry attempt at calming his nerves -- jisung turned the golden doorknob and opened the door, peering through the small crack. </p><p> </p><p>the lights were off, but sunlight streamed in through every window. he could see the kitchen from where he stood, but not much of it. just the sink and -- <em> oh, a crawler, how fun. </em></p><p> </p><p>jisung’s heart jumped into his throat and it took all of his willpower to not slam the door shut again. </p><p> </p><p>the crawler up on top of the kitchen island hadn’t noticed him yet. if jisung played his cards right, he could sneak up on it and (hopefully) kill it, <em> without </em>attracting the attention of any others. </p><p> </p><p>and so jisung pushed the door open and slipped into the hallway, creeping his way toward the kitchen. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. savior</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>hindsight wasn’t always 20/20. there was no way of knowing exactly how things would have gone if you did something differently. </p><p> </p><p>but looking back on it, it was blatantly obvious that jisung shouldn’t have thrown his dumbbell at the crawler. </p><p> </p><p>in his defense, jisung hadn’t really gone in with a better plan than “fuck shit up and try not to die.” he threw the dumbbell before realizing that,<em> hey, it’s turned away from me, maybe i can sneak up on it and chop its head off :D!! </em>of course, as soon as he saw the crawler’s leathery, pukey green back, oozing something dark and disgusting and liquidy from every little orifice, he immediately thought; “throw.” </p><p> </p><p>and so that’s what he did. he threw the twenty-pound dumbbell at the creature and hit it square in between the shoulder blades, effectively jerking the crawler maybe three centimeters forward. </p><p> </p><p>-- and gaining its attention, which was really the absolute <em>last </em>thing jisung was hoping for. </p><p> </p><p>he had just enough time to think up a few creative curses before the crawler was scrambling around on the countertop to face him, its jagged, pointy teeth bared, and a long, curling black tongue flailing out the side of its mouth. a loud snarl erupted from its throat -- a blood-curdling scream that had jisung’s mother’s favorite dining china quivering in the display cabinet, and had jisung’s legs frozen in absolute terror. he couldn’t have run away if he wanted to.</p><p> </p><p>and he really, <em> really </em>wanted to. </p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry?” jisung tried, hoping that maybe if he was polite enough the crawler would leave him alone. </p><p> </p><p>no such luck. before jisung could finish the last syllable, the crawler was leaping off of the edge of the counter, clawed hands outstretched and ready to grab jisung and tear him to shreds. </p><p> </p><p>in a moment of panic, jisung gripped the hilt of the katana with both hands, one over the other. His eyes pinched shut tight and a small, strangled whimper left his lips as he thrust the katana forward. </p><p> </p><p>there was a gross noise that sounded something like the way jisung’s father gargled salt water every morning, and the creature let out a squeal of pain, maybe. jisung felt a heavy pressure weighing down on the blade of his katana. upon realizing he wasn’t, in fact, dead, he cautiously pried his eyelids open, only to throw them wide and fully drop the handle of the sword when he realized he’d <em>stabbed the crawler in the throat.  </em></p><p> </p><p>jisung scrambled backward and pressed up against the wall, his breaths irregular and stuttered. he watched, batedly, as the crawler writhed on the floor, mere feet away from him. its neck was impaled on the katana, halfway down the blade. black blood slowly dripped down toward the hilt. the opposite end of the katana was completely covered in the thick, vile liquid. it looked like watered down tar.</p><p> </p><p>it wasn’t until the crawler completely stopped moving that jisung could relax. heaving a heavy sigh and laughing incredulously at his insane luck, he slunk down the wall until he was seated on the linoleum floor. jisung pulled his knees up to his chest and, finally, broke down. he sobbed, and he sobbed, and he sobbed. </p><p> </p><p>because what else were you supposed to do when you were all alone in the beginning of the apocalypse and you’d just barely made it out of a crawler encounter with your life and all four limbs still attached, said crawler lying (hopefully) dead not even a yard away from you?</p><p> </p><p>by the time jisung’s tears had dried, and he’d stopped staring into space thinking about what he’d done in his past lives to deserve something like this, he realized that;</p><p> </p><ol>
<li>he was alive.</li>
</ol><p> </p><ol>
<li>he had <em>killed </em>(maybe) a crawler. </li>
</ol><p> </p><ol>
<li>no other crawlers had come running when all of the noise was being made, which meant there were either none others close by, or they were <em>seriously </em>hearing impaired. </li>
</ol><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t wait long to find out. he figured he’d sat there long enough, curled into the smallest ball possible and cursing everything ever, so he moved to kneel beside the crawler. </p><p> </p><p>it was nerve-wracking, being so close to the monster. even if it was dead (probably), it was still disgusting and horrifying. the memory of its growls and screams was still fresh in jisung’s mind, playing over and over again in a loop. the memory of its mouth hanging wide open, and the way its claws stretched out toward him as it jumped, nearly sent him into a breathless state. </p><p> </p><p>with a shaky inhale, jisung lifted a leg and kicked the crawler onto its side. </p><p> </p><p>even dead (not confirmed) it was still horrible to look at. its eyes, full-blown white, were open wide, staring up at him. its mouth still hung open and its tongue still rolled out to the side. </p><p> </p><p>jisung tore his eyes away from the creature's face and cautiously grabbed the handle of his katana, swiftly pulling it out of the crawler's neck. jisung gagged as its blood gushed out of the open cut, a puddle rapidly pooling beneath the crawler. </p><p> </p><p>jisung just about vomited as he scraped the sides of his blade against one of the crawler’s arms, trying his best to wipe off all of the blood. but there was still a thin sheen of black sludge coating the blade, and jisung realized that if he wanted the katana clean, he’d have to do much more than scrape it against a corpse (optimistic).</p><p> </p><p>but jisung didn’t even want to touch the blood with gloves on and a rag, so a dirty katana would be something he’d have to live with. </p><p> </p><p>fantastic. </p><p> </p><p>after pulling himself off the floor, legs shuddering and his steps uneven, the next step was to find food; anything from the fridge that would last him a few days, and just about anything from the pantry. </p><p> </p><p>there wasn’t a lot; neither of his parents had gone grocery shopping yet this week. </p><p> </p><p>they had a whole-ass katana in their basement, and yet only two half-empty boxes of crackers and three protein bars in the pantry. did the singular peanut jisung left in the bottom of the jar as a joke even count as food at that point? </p><p> </p><p>the fridge wasn’t much better. the crawlers had managed to infiltrate and destroy the stainless steel doors (and the rest of the kitchen, the damn heathens), and just about everything was torn apart and eaten. jisung found a few baby carrots scattered across the floor and a head of old, browning lettuce ripped to shreds, and quickly decided that nothing was salvageable. </p><p> </p><p>so even if jisung had decided to wait out the apocalypse in his house, fighting off every crawler that tried to invade his territory, he wouldn’t last all that long before venturing out to find some more food anyway. </p><p> </p><p>jisung ate the singular peanut and stuffed the rest of the food (if it could even be called that) into his backpack. he kept a wary eye on the corpse (uncertain) of the crawler as he rushed around his kitchen, grabbing anything that looked weapon-like or even relatively useful -- like his mother’s favorite bread knife, which joined the broken baseball bat in the side pocket of his backpack. </p><p> </p><p>the next half hour consisted of jisung carefully skittering across the top floor of his house, rushing from bedroom to bathroom to different bedroom to laundry room, and finally ending up back in his own bedroom. it was a miracle that all of the stuff he’d grabbed fit in his backpack, but he made sure to dress up in multiple layers of clothes in order to lighten the load. </p><p> </p><p>jisung’s windbreaker was only zipped halfway up his chest when his ears picked up on a faint noise. he heard it through the floor. it was a jarring sound, like two sheets of metal being scraped against each other. with a start, jisung remembered the kitchen was directly beneath his bedroom, and he’d heard that sound before. it was the sound one of the island chairs made when you spun the seat because it was manufactured so oddly. and jisung had left the not-so-dead corpse lying beside said chair. </p><p> </p><p><em> fuck</em>. </p><p> </p><p>fuck zipping his jacket. heart pounding so loud jisung swore anything could hear it from a mile away, he rushed over to his window, unlocking it and pushing the bottom pane up. he looked to his door, hanging wide open. he could hear the crawler clearly now, growling and huffing its way up his stairs. the only good thing was that it seemed to be ascending slowly. </p><p> </p><p>slow enough for jisung to make his escape. </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t even know how it knew he was up here, or if it even knew at all. maybe it was finally taking its self-guided tour and would leave jisung be. </p><p> </p><p>jisung pushed those thoughts out of his mind for the time-being and lifted his right leg. he kicked the flimsy black screen out of the frame, watching as it slid across the awning that hung over top of the back porch, and got stuck in the rain gutter. </p><p> </p><p>the crawler was getting closer. the animalistic, wild growls that rumbled from its throat shook jisung to the bone, and each was louder than the last. </p><p> </p><p>jisung was dead. he was <em>so </em>dead. he was going to die, and unlike the crawler, he wouldn’t be coming back to life. at least not as he once was. could he turn into one of them if he got bit or scratched? killed? or would he just <em>stay dead</em>? </p><p> </p><p>he wasn’t going to wait around and find out -- he’d have to experiment later, on someone other than himself. he grabbed his dumbbell and katana from his bed and tossed them out of his window, far enough that they completely flew past the end of the awning and fell to the ground. jisung was quick to follow suit, climbing out of the window feet first and sliding down the rough shingles. </p><p> </p><p>jisung turned, watching through the open window. maybe he could just sit out on the roof and wait it out. maybe the crawler would get bored and wander off and jisung would be able to sit and collect himself before running. </p><p> </p><p>that thought was chucked completely out the window when he saw his door push open, and a dark shadow move across the back of his room. </p><p> </p><p>as jisung turned and lowered himself down off the roof, the thought of “<em> maybe it can smell me </em>” drifted through his mind. but he didn’t have enough time to think about it before he was hanging onto the gutter, the tips of his toes maybe two-and-a-half feet off the ground. </p><p> </p><p>and then there was that horrible snarl, the one that would haunt jisung’s dreams for the rest of his life. except it didn’t come from inside his house. </p><p> </p><p>jisung looked to the left. </p><p> </p><p>another crawler stood on the opposite side of the street, limbs gangly and long. </p><p> </p><p>“you gotta be fucking kidding me!” jisung yelled, cursing at the sky. he swung backward and dropped off the awning, quickly snatching his dumbbell and katana off the ground and running in the opposite direction. </p><p> </p><p>the crawler screamed again. </p><p> </p><p>jisung looked over his shoulder. it was lumbering after him, fast and on all fours. “leave me alone!” </p><p> </p><p>and, to jisung’s absolute horror, the previous crawler stuck its head out jisung’s bedroom window. </p><p> </p><p>“why aren’t you dead?!” jisung turned back around and pushed forward, his feet stomping against the ground as he moved from his grassy yard and onto the asphalt street. “i fucking <em> stabbed </em> you in the <em> throat </em>!” </p><p> </p><p>if jisung had been in his right mind, he would remember that his elderly neighbors always left their keys in their <em>unlocked </em>car. he could drive away, leave those crawlers in the dust, and maybe find an abandoned mansion or something where he could live out the rest of his days in luxury. </p><p> </p><p>unfortunately, his only thought was to run as fast as he possibly could, preferably without tripping and impaling himself on his katana. </p><p> </p><p>jisung turned on a sharp corner, looking over his shoulder long enough to see the crawlers. they were gaining on him. jisung could cry - again. “stop following me, fucking stalkers!” he wailed. </p><p> </p><p>jisung heavily contemplated ditching his backpack, knowing that if he dropped all of the dead weight he’d be able to run faster. </p><p> </p><p>he slipped an arm through one of the straps, ready to throw it to the ground and <em>sprint</em>. </p><p> </p><p>and then -- “han jisung!” </p><p> </p><p>attention grabbed, jisung turned to his right, eyes wide. </p><p> </p><p>there he was, revved chainsaw in hand. </p><p> </p><p>jisung’s savior. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>who do you think "jisung's savior" is?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. calls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>jisung gets saved by a friend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>for two months, jisung had worked in an old vinyl and record shop. it was great, in the sense that he earned reduced prices on vinyls and cds and posters depending on how many hours he worked. but he hadn’t necessarily enjoyed the social aspect of a job, and the stress was too much to handle along with school and his parents’ relentless arguing, and so he quit. </p><p> </p><p>in those two months, however, he found there was one particular coworker he enjoyed working with. they weren’t on the same shift often, only about once every two-and-a-half weeks. </p><p> </p><p>but they had similar interests and found that they’d had the same music production teacher (that they both hated with a fiery passion) in each of their first years of high school, and that was enough for jisung to create something of a bond with him. </p><p> </p><p>six months later, and now instead of saving jisung from tripping over the lifted carpet while carrying a new box of harry styles vinyls out of the stock room, seo changbin was saving him from being mauled and killed by crawlers. </p><p> </p><p>“hyung!” jisung cried, his shout laden with so much relief. he quickly changed direction and dashed toward his knight in shining leather, resisting the overwhelming urge to leap into his arms and demand he get jisung out of this hellhole. instead, he ran around his hyung, hiding behind him. “you have <em> no idea </em> how happy i am to see you!” </p><p> </p><p>“run now, talk later!” changbin grabbed jisung’s sleeve as he turned around and booked it in the opposite direction of the crawlers, pulling jisung after him. with his chainsaw, he gestured toward a big pickup truck that’s front end had hopped up over the curb and was still running idly. “don’t focus on those pieces of shit, just get to the truck!” </p><p> </p><p>as much as jisung wanted to forget about the crawlers, it was difficult not to focus on them when each roar came louder than the last. he didn’t have to look back to know that they were steadily growing closer. </p><p> </p><p>thankfully, it didn’t take long to reach the truck. changbin shoved jisung toward the passenger side and dashed around the front to climb into the driver’s seat. they each slammed their doors shut, and changbin was quick to throw the truck into reverse. the gas pedal was quickly pressed the whole way to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>the speedometer climbed quickly and the back tires burned rubber. the front end of the truck dropped off the curb and onto the asphalt, and the whole vehicle jostled. jisung felt like his neck was going to break -- and it might soon if changbin kept slamming on the freaking breaks. </p><p> </p><p>“do you even know how to drive!?” jisung asked, frantic. he looked back and forth between changbin and the crawlers headed their way, lumbering on all fours. he felt safer now that he was tucked away in a heavy-duty truck, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still terrified. </p><p> </p><p>changbin’s response didn’t help matters; “not really, no.” </p><p> </p><p>to be fair, jisung didn’t know how to drive, either. he’d had one lesson maybe four months ago, and all it consisted of was how to start the car, how to go forward, and how to reverse. the rest of his limited knowledge came from video games. </p><p> </p><p>except, he wasn’t the one currently behind the wheel. </p><p> </p><p>as changbin switched the gear into drive, jisung decided it didn’t really matter all that much; he’d rather be stuck in a vehicle with a reckless driver than be stuck out there with the crawlers. </p><p> </p><p>and then changbin floored it once more, and jisung was slammed back against his seat. changbin turned the wheel sharp to the left and took off down the street, running over an abandoned box of chalk. </p><p> </p><p>if nothing else, at least now they had a colorful tire. </p><p> </p><p>jisung looked into the mirror, watching as the crawlers finally struggled to catch up. the truck was much faster than them, luckily, but it wasn’t until changbin turned a corner and they were far out of sight that jisung finally relaxed. </p><p> </p><p>“i think that has to have been the most stressful hour of my entire life,” he grumbled. he set his backpack down on the floor between his feet and laid his katana and dumbbell down on top of it, before sinking down into his seat. “thank you for getting me out of there, hyung.” </p><p> </p><p>changbin huffed a little bit. “you’re lucky i saw you running down the street like a maniac, otherwise i wouldn’t have stopped.” he reached across the truck and flicked the side of jisung’s head, ignoring his cry of pain. “what the hell were you thinking, being out in the open like that?” </p><p> </p><p>“they broke into my house!” jisung defended, rubbing at his newly forming bruise. “i didn’t have any choice but to run away! besides, you’re out in the open, too!” </p><p> </p><p>“yeah,” changbin rolled his eyes. “except i stole my neighbor’s truck — i wasn’t running down the street with zombies chasing after me, screaming my head off!” </p><p> </p><p>“okay, one, we don’t even know if they’re undead or not, so we can’t call them zombies. call them crawlers, because they crawl,” jisung pointed out, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “and two, being chased by the crawlers wasn’t part of my plan, they just put a slight <em> wrench </em> in my plan.” </p><p> </p><p>“and what was your oh-so-smart plan, then?”</p><p> </p><p>“i dunno, wander around until i find any other humans?” jisung’s eyes widened, and he turned to his hyung with a grin. “<em> technically</em>, my plan worked; i found <em> you </em>!” </p><p> </p><p>changbin’s shoulders deflated a bit, and he looked at jisung out of the corner of his eye. “i’ll say it again; you’re lucky i saw you. i wasn’t planning on stopping.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung hummed. “where were you headed, anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin was silent for a moment. “i was on my way back from the school,” he relented. “my dad went in for a meeting early this morning and he wasn’t answering any of my calls, so i figured instead of sitting around and waiting i would go out and find him.” changbin sucked in a shaky breath, and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel. “his car was there. but the doors of the school were hanging wide open and there were “crawlers” everywhere, so i didn’t stick around too long… it’d be a miracle if he somehow made it out of that alive.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung frowned. changbin had once told him that he and his father hadn’t gotten along too well since his mother got sick, but he was still his father, and he still cared. “i’m sorry,” he murmured.</p><p> </p><p>changbin shrugged, then cleared his throat. “what about your parents?” </p><p> </p><p>“i haven’t tried to call my parents yet. i think I'm too scared of not getting an answer.” </p><p> </p><p>“you <em> should </em> call them,” changbin urged. “on the off chance that they might pick up.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t reply. instead, he turned up the volume of the radio and changed it to his father’s favorite political news station, hoping maybe they’d be reporting on the crawlers and the state the city — or maybe the whole country, or even the whole world — was currently in. </p><p> </p><p>and they were. he’d caught the ending five minutes of a report on the crawlers, but didn’t find out much other than that their origin was unknown, and they still hadn’t found an effective way to kill them. lucky for the rest of the world, crawlers had only been attacking in <em>their </em>city, but it wouldn’t take long for them to spread across the rest of korea, and (unless they were contained) eventually the rest of the world, too.</p><p> </p><p>if they were contagious, that is. the news station hadn’t had any reports of people turning into one of them, but then again, they were only a few hours into the pandemonium.</p><p> </p><p>anything could happen. anything was possible. </p><p> </p><p>“call your parents,” changbin said, again. “find out if they’re alright.”</p><p> </p><p>as scared as jisung was, he knew changbin was right. he pulled his phone out of his pocket and powered it on, his hands shaking the whole time. his thumb hovered over the call button in his mother’s contact — “what if they don’t answer?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin’s frown seemed to deepen. “... i don’t know, jisung-ah. we’ll worry about it if it happens.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung nodded, and with a deep breath, he pressed the button. slowly, he raised his phone to his ear, biting at his bottom lip. </p><p> </p><p>the phone rang, and it rang, and it rang. </p><p> </p><p>jisung reached her voicemail. </p><p> </p><p>he resisted the urge to cry out; maybe she just didn’t have her phone on her. maybe she was still working, safe inside the power plant, oblivious to the state of the outside world. </p><p> </p><p>he still had to try his father. jisung tore his phone from his ear and switched to his contact, quickly pressing the call button and lifting the screen to his ear once more. </p><p> </p><p>the phone rang, and it rang, and it rang. </p><p> </p><p>jisung reached his voicemail. </p><p> </p><p>“fuck,” jisung hissed. he tried again, calling them both thrice more. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> they were busy. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> they were okay. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> they would call him back soon.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>changbin’s hand in his was the only thing grounding him at that moment. </p><p> </p><p>“they didn’t answer,” he told him, voice soft, caught in his throat. </p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry, sung.” changbin squeezed his hand. </p><p> </p><p>“there’s… nothing i can do about it now.” jisung sucked in a few steadying breaths, squeezing his eyes shut and willing himself not to cry. not yet. “what do we do now?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin let go of his hand and grabbed his own phone from one of the cupholders, holding it out for jisung to take. “go through my contacts and look for “channie hyung”. call him and put it on speaker.”</p><p> </p><p>jisung did as told, quickly following all of changbin’s directions. once he hit the speaker button, he held the phone up between them. he didn’t know who this “channie hyung” was, but by the way changbin was quietly pleading for him to pick up made jisung wonder who exactly he was to <em>changbin.  </em></p><p> </p><p>the phone rang, and it rang, and it rang. </p><p> </p><p>the line picked up. </p><p> </p><p>“<em> binnie? are you alright? i don’t know what’s happening right now, but i need to know you’re okay. </em>”</p><p> </p><p>“i’m fine,” changbin choked out. his whole body seemed to relax upon hearing his hyung’s words. “we’re fine.” </p><p> </p><p>“<em> oh, thank god. i tried calling you like three times and you didn’t answer. i was so worried!”  </em></p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry, hyung,” changbin winced. “i had to rescue someone and then i didn’t have a chance to look at my phone. but i’m okay.” <em> for now.  </em></p><p> </p><p>“<em> it’s okay, i’m just glad you’re alright </em> .” there was a pause, and a bit of murmuring in the background. “ <em> where are you now? jeongin-ah and i will come get you. </em>”</p><p> </p><p>changbin shook his head, as if the people on the other side of the phone could see him. “no, i’ll come to you. i’ll explain everything later, but i took my neighbor’s truck and i’m aimlessly driving around at the moment. are you at home?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “no, jeongin’s. i don’t… i don’t know how long we can stay here, though.”  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>changbin let out a frustrated sigh, and pressed his foot down onto the gas pedal harder. “alright, try to stay there if you can. stay safe until i get there.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> you too, bin. be careful. </em>” </p><p> </p><p>“i got it.” changbin said a quick goodbye and had jisung hang up, and then the truck was quiet for a few minutes. </p><p> </p><p>“chan hyung is my best friend.” changbin finally explained. “if he and jeongin don't make it…” </p><p> </p><p>changbin didn’t finish his sentence, but jisung understood. he understood completely. perfectly. </p><p> </p><p>there was still one more person he had to call, but that conversation would have to wait a bit.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>were you expecting "jisung's savior" to be changbin?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. foot-races and hair dye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>please ignore my inability to think of names for a highschool. please. I struggled for like an hour to think of something and still, my creativity decided to hibernate.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>like most people, jisung often wondered what living in an apocalypse would be like, whether it be late-night scenario-making or drifting off during a lecture. his obsession with zombie movies and games and all kinds of dystopian, apocalyptic fiction had been going on strong for five or six years, after all. but even with all of that daydreaming, he’d never really thought of what the very beginning of the apocalypse would be like, just the middle and end parts where he was a badass that kicked zombie butt and saved the world and maybe sacrificed himself for the greater good, because he was just generous like that. </p><p> </p><p>even so, the beginning of the apocalypse was far from what jisung would have ever expected. he assumed that as he and changbin traveled to jeongin’s house, they would have come across more people, more dumbasses out and about. maybe they’d be looting stores or running from crawlers like jisung, or maybe they’d see some other running vehicles piled full with passengers. any kind of human life and jisung would have been somewhat satisfied. he’d feel like maybe they weren’t <em>completely </em>alone in all of this. </p><p> </p><p>but all they drove past were a few more groups of crawlers and clusters of dead, mutilated bodies lying by the road, which changbin was quick to avoid, not wanting another confrontation with the horrific creatures. thankfully, nothing had tried to chase them. yet.  </p><p> </p><p>so maybe other people were hiding in their homes, too afraid to step outside. or maybe they’d heard some news that jisung and changbin hadn’t and were already on their way toward a “safe haven” of sorts. maybe the city had already been evacuated while jisung was cowering in his basement. </p><p> </p><p>jisung doubted it. most likely case-scenario was that most of their city’s population was already dead. </p><p> </p><p>jisung tried not to think about it too much, but the truck was quiet, and despite changbin driving <em>well </em>over the speed limit, the ride was taking a little too long. jisung had no other choice but to sit and fester in his anxiety -- to sit and let the thoughts run their course through his head, lapping each other and sometimes even shoving a different thought to the ground so that it could win and make it to the forefront of his mind. </p><p> </p><p>jisung must have already been going crazy if he was comparing his thoughts to a cheat-filled olympic footrace. </p><p> </p><p>and then suddenly changbin pulled the truck into a skinny driveway, slamming on the brakes before he could crash into the back of the tiny little prius ahead of them. jisung’s body lurched forward and was quickly thrown back into his seat at the sudden jolt. he threw changbin a glare as he rubbed his sore neck. </p><p> </p><p>“sorry,” changbin breathed out, and jisung wondered if he’d been holding his breath. “still haven’t gotten the hang of driving yet. you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>despite the ache in his neck and back (and his skull, now that he thought about it), jisung nodded. “‘m fine.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin looked toward the house beside them, and jisung followed his gaze. the house seemed almost dead, all of the lights flicked off on both floors and white curtains pulled shut across all of the windows -- all except the window closest to their truck. the fabric was peeled back the slightest bit. if jisung strained his eyes enough, he could just about make out the facial features of a human. </p><p> </p><p>the curtain fell closed, and changbin grabbed his phone from the cupholder when it vibrated seconds later. “from chan hyung,” he told jisung, peering down at his phone. “he said to be careful cause jeongin-ah saw a zombie--”</p><p> </p><p>“crawler,” jisung corrected. </p><p> </p><p>“-- around the back of the house a few minutes ago. he said we should be fine for now, but to be cautious.” changbin sucked in a deep breath, thumbs flying across the bottom of the screen as he typed something back. “if we run for the door fast enough, we <em> should </em>be able to make it without dying.” </p><p> </p><p>“<em>should </em>?” jisung bit his lip and lifted his backpack up off the floor, scooching to the very edge of his seat as he slung it onto his shoulders. again, the dumbbell and katana were gripped tight in his hands, waiting for him to chuck and slice. with a quick glance toward changbin, he realized his hyung had pulled his chainsaw out of the backseat and into his lap, and his phone was probably buried in a pocket. </p><p> </p><p>following changbin’s lead, jisung craned his neck to look out each of the truck’s windows, making sure there weren’t any crawlers around. jisung didn’t care that the front door was less than fifteen feet away; if he saw even the tiniest glimpse of that disgusting green skin or oozing black goop, he wasn’t leaving the safety of changbin’s stolen truck. </p><p> </p><p>and then, all of a sudden, changbin unlocked the doors and had his hand on the door handle. “you ready?”</p><p> </p><p>jisung fumbled for an answer, looking between changbin and his own window and completely panicking. a bit more of a warning would have been nice. “no! of course, i’m not ready!” </p><p> </p><p>changbin let out an aggravated sigh, and jisung didn’t even have the mind to be offended. “jisung, there’s nothing around. if we wait any longer, that may not be the case!” </p><p> </p><p>jisung felt the urge to cry once more. this wasn’t fair. why did everything have to be so stressful? </p><p> </p><p>“jisung!” changbin urged. </p><p> </p><p>“fine!” he cried, and before he could back out, he threw open his door and tumbled out of the truck, running around the front end and booking it toward the house. changbin, despite not being prepared for jisung to <em>actually </em>get out of the truck, was quickly on his tail. side-by-side, they ran up the steps of the front porch, taking them two at a time. they paused in front of the door, changbin’s hand reaching for the doorknob.</p><p> </p><p>but then the door swung inward and before he could process what was happening, a hand was wrapped around jisung’s sweatshirt, yanking him into the house. based on the yelp that he heard beside him, he guessed changbin had been manhandled as well. </p><p> </p><p>and then the hand let go and the front door was closing, and jisung could relax. </p><p> </p><p>they were safe again, for the time being. </p><p> </p><p>what had he been so worried about? that was probably the easiest fifteen feet he had ever run. </p><p> </p><p>jisung turned around to find whoever had pulled him inside but said person was peeking out the window once more, so he turned to changbin instead. but changbin was in the middle of hugging someone else, chainsaw forgotten on the coffee table (seriously, changbin? it was a murder machine, not a cup of tea. at least be polite and use a coaster or two.), so he resolved himself to standing awkwardly until someone noticed him. </p><p> </p><p>the guy at the window dropped the curtain and turned around at the same time changbin let go of the other boy, and still, jisung stood. awkwardly. like those kids at the side of the gym at school dances because their parents forced them to go for the “experience.” </p><p> </p><p>“are you guys okay?” changbin asked them both, hugging the second boy tight, who nodded. </p><p> </p><p>“we’re fine, hyung,” the first boy responded. jisung figured he was the one named jeongin. </p><p> </p><p>the other one, probably chan, pulled away from changbin’s hug. “how about you?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin shrugged. “a couple of near-death experiences, but, otherwise, we’re fine.” changbin gestured toward jisung and the other boys turned their gazes toward him, and jisung couldn’t help but stiffen under the attention. “this is han jisung. i used to work with him at the vinyl shop.”</p><p> </p><p>weirdly enough, considering the current circumstances, the corners of chan’s lips lifted upward. “nice to meet you.”</p><p> </p><p>was it? jisung had nearly died and the only reason he was even meeting these people in the first place was because the stupid apocalypse decided to become a real thing, so could it really be “nice” to meet them? </p><p> </p><p>jisung replied with a quiet “you too,” anyway. </p><p> </p><p>changbin then moved to stand next to jisung, and jisung was grateful for the comforting hand placed on his shoulder. “this is bang chan and yang jeongin,” changbin told him, pointing to each of the boys as he said their names. chan was the one with long blonde hair, curled and wavy and pushed back out of his face with a black bandana. jeongin’s hair was dark red and falling over his eyebrows, and suddenly jisung hated his plain black hair. </p><p> </p><p>maybe now that they were in an apocalypse without any parental figures, jisung could finally dye it. </p><p> </p><p>that aside, jisung had been correct when he guessed which boy was which. </p><p> </p><p>the other three boys began talking, exchanging stories. changbin told them about how he went out to find his father and was on his way home when he spotted jisung and rescued him. chan and jeongin told them about how chan was already on his way to jeongin’s house to pick him up and drive him to school when the crawlers (changbin corrected them when chan called them zombies, and jisung felt a small surge of pride) started attacking, and they decided to stay inside jeongin’s house where they’d be safe. </p><p> </p><p>same as changbin and jisung, their parents were already at work and hadn't picked up when they tried to call them. </p><p> </p><p>at the mention of phone calls, jisung remembered he still had one to make. all eyes were on him, waiting for him to tell his own story, but he was already set on something else. “i have to make a call,” he blurted out, turning to jeongin. “where’s your bathroom?”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin blinked at him, probably expecting an epic tale of glory where jisung took down seventeen crawlers all by himself like an absolute badass main character, and instead got “where’s your bathroom?” </p><p> </p><p>“down the hall, first door to the left,” he answered, pointing down the hallway. </p><p> </p><p>“thanks.” jisung quickly made his way down the hall and into the directed room, already unzipping his jacket and pulling his phone out of his hoodie pocket. he closed the door behind him and set his katana and dumbbell down on the counter, scrolling through his contacts until he found the one he wanted. </p><p> </p><p>he pressed the call button and lifted his phone to his ear, and the line picked up within the first two seconds.</p><p> </p><p>“felix?”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> jisung!” </em> his name came through in a harsh whisper. “ <em> jisung, i think we’re in a horror movie!”  </em></p><p> </p><p>jisung scoffed. “what gave you that idea?” </p><p> </p><p>“<em> you’ve seen them, right? the crawlers?” </em></p><p> </p><p>and finally, <em> finally, </em>someone else was being logical and calling them by the correct name. “you call them that too?”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> yeah, what else am i gonna call them? they crawl.” </em></p><p> </p><p>“exactly! thank you!” jisung cried out. “finally someone with some intellect!” </p><p> </p><p>felix laughed a bit. “<em>anyway, you at home?”  </em></p><p> </p><p>“no,” jisung closed the lid of the toilet and sat down on it, a wave of exhaustion falling over him. “i was, but then my house got infiltrated and i had to make a run for it. a friend found me and took me with him to one of his friend’s houses.” he paused, looking around the room he was in. “i am currently hiding in the bathroom.” </p><p> </p><p>“<em>well, at least you’re safe </em>.” felix sighed heavily, and jisung sat a little straighter. that didn’t sound good.</p><p> </p><p>“you're safe too, right?” felix didn’t answer. “lix?”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> ... more or less. I… the dance team had an early practice this morning. we barricaded the doors, but there’s still crawlers all over the school. i don’t know how long it’ll be til’ they figure out there’s people in here.” </em></p><p> </p><p>felix was at school. jisung didn’t go to the same school as him, but he knew which one it was -- he’d loathed the name ever since felix decided he wanted to go there and left jisung to fend for himself. </p><p> </p><p>“how many other people are there with you?” </p><p> </p><p>“<em>uh… most of the dance team and a couple of teachers.” </em></p><p> </p><p>jisung suddenly stood, an idea forming. it was a long shot, but... “hold on a minute, felix.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>what?”  </em></p><p> </p><p>but jisung was already making his way out of the bathroom, back down the hall and toward the living room, where changbin, chan, and jeongin were settled on the couches, in the middle of a conversation. </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t care. if he was right, then this was more important than whatever they could be talking about. </p><p> </p><p>changbin was the first to notice him. “took you long enough--”</p><p> </p><p>“what school does your dad work at?” </p><p> </p><p>changbin leaned back a bit and raised a brow at him, eyeing the phone in jisung’s hand. “miroh high. why?”</p><p> </p><p>“there are still people alive in there.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin’s eyes went wide. </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>changbin: get out of the truck before we die!<br/>jisung: no&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. coffee addicts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>to say changbin was floored by jisung’s sudden claim was an understatement; the boy stared up at jisung with wide eyes and gaping lips, more or less unresponsive, for a solid fifteen seconds. </p><p> </p><p>jisung snapped his fingers an inch away from changbin’s nose. changbin blinked and pulled back, shaking his head. “did you hear me, hyung?” jisung asked. and in case changbin hadn’t yet put two-and-two together, he added; “your dad might still be alive!”</p><p> </p><p>jisung was almost shocked that his hyung didn’t immediately demand they all hop in the truck and go to the school to find his dad. instead, changbin pouted, sinking into the fluffy-looking couch cushions. “that’s not possible,” he claimed, voice soft. “there were too many of those things surrounding the school. there’s no way there are people alive in there.”</p><p> </p><p>letting out a heavy, frustrated sigh, jisung put the call on speakerphone. “felix, you’re trapped at miroh high, correct?”</p><p> </p><p>there were a few seconds before his answer came where jisung wondered if maybe something had happened to felix in the few moments jisung was occupied with changbin. but then his deep voice came through the phone. “<em> yeah? didn’t i just tell you this?”  </em></p><p> </p><p>jisung shushed his phone, then turned back to changbin. “see? people are still alive there.” jisung thought of felix’s earlier words, his optimism falling ever so slightly. “but i don’t know for how much longer.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> i can still hear you, asshole </em> ,” felix reminded him. “ <em> don’t kill us off yet.” </em></p><p> </p><p>changbin’s gaze was set hard on the phone in jisung’s hand. his lips were pressed together tightly, his brows furrowed. </p><p> </p><p>he needed more convincing. </p><p> </p><p>another sigh, his frustration growing, jisung called out to felix once more. “are there any male teachers named “seo” with you?” </p><p> </p><p>“<em>hold on, let me ask.” </em> felix told him. then his voice called out, distant, asking if there was anyone by the name of “seo.” a few short-but-agonizing moments later, felix was back. “ <em> there’s one here. but sung--” </em></p><p> </p><p>and then felix’s words were cut off abruptly. jisung looked down at his phone, his shoulders dropping when he realized the call had ended, and felix’s contact photo (felix and jisung grinning wide with orange slices between their lips, covering their teeth) stared up at him. </p><p> </p><p>panic rising and frustration towards every single little thing still growing, jisung ground out a low “you gotta be fucking kidding me,” and pressed the call button again, only for the call to go straight to voicemail. </p><p> </p><p>“his phone must be dead,” jisung told the rest of their little group. he tried to call felix once more, just in case, but received the same result. </p><p> </p><p>changbin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “... there’s got to be at least five teachers in that school with the family name “seo.” there’s no guarantee the one your friend was talking about is my dad.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung let his arms fall to his sides, his phone nearly slipping from his lax grip. he took half a step back. “you mean…” but he couldn’t finish his sentence. anything he might have been planning to say died on his tongue. what had he been about to say, anyway? he didn’t know; he spoke before thinking it through. </p><p> </p><p>“i mean... we’re safe here.” despite the quiet, calm way he spoke, there was a bit of finality to his tone. “we can’t risk our lives on a whim that he <em> might </em> still be alive.” </p><p> </p><p>and suddenly jisung’s frustration morphed into anger. he knew changbin was speaking rationally; if they left the safety of this house, there was a very, <em> very </em>large chance they wouldn’t make it back. still. “my best friend is stuck in there. there’s a whole dance team and a bunch of teachers with him, one of which might be your dad, and you’re not even going to <em> consider </em> saving them?” </p><p> </p><p>changbin suddenly stood, and out of the corner of his eye, jisung saw chan do the same. “<em>save </em>them?” changbin repeated. “jisung, what are we gonna do? we’re four teenagers with a sword and a chainsaw, versus ten or twenty crawlers! that’s a <em> suicide mission </em>!” </p><p> </p><p>and jisung hated how logical changbin was being. hated how much his words made sense. hated how tight his throat felt and how easy it was for tears to build up in his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>chan - for the first time since jisung came back from the bathroom - spoke. “changbin’s right.” jisung turned to him, watching as chan’s gaze fell to the window. there was a vivid orange hue streaming in through the cracks between the curtains; the sun was setting. “it’ll be dark soon. we don’t know what the crawlers are like at night. even if we decided to go, i don’t think it would be smart to do it now.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung dropped his gaze to his feet, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. his eyes shone with unshed tears, the threat of them spilling over growing with every second that passed. “... i don’t know what to do without him,” jisung admitted. his voice was small, almost impossibly so. “he means more to me than anyone else.” <em> even his parents.  </em></p><p> </p><p>chan and jeongin must have then decided this conversation was better held in private, because they disappeared into the kitchen. jisung barely registered the hushed voices coming from their direction. </p><p> </p><p>the fire drained from changbin’s eyes, then, replaced by despair, and he grabbed jisung’s empty hand, lacing their fingers together. “i’m sorry. believe me, sungie, i want to try to save them as much as you do. but if we go, we’re not coming back.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung just nodded, knowing that if he tried to speak his voice would break. </p><p> </p><p>“sung…” changbin tried. “i’m <em> sorry </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung shook his head. “don’t-don’t be.” he cleared his throat a little, standing tall and blinking back the floodgates. “it’s not your fault the world’s gone to shit.” </p><p> </p><p>changbin laughed at that, something laced with sarcasm and irony. then, just like he’d done to chan and jeongin earlier, he pulled jisung into a hug. “you got that right.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung welcomed the embrace, wrapping his own arms around changbin’s lower back. jisung still had yet to take off his backpack, but changbin worked around the obstacle, wrapping his own arms around jisung’s neck. </p><p> </p><p>it was calming, comforting. a physical, solid reminder that jisung wasn’t going through this alone anymore. </p><p> </p><p>all too soon, changbin let go. only seconds later, chan crossed the threshold between the kitchen and the living room, pausing just outside the doorway and leaning against the wall.</p><p> </p><p>“jeongin’s starting dinner,” he informed them. </p><p> </p><p>changbin raised a brow. “you sure he won’t burn down the house?” </p><p> </p><p>chan smirked a little. “i just have him cutting up some vegetables. i’ll take care of the rest, but i wanted to talk to you first.” </p><p> </p><p>changbin hummed and fell back onto the couch. “alone?” </p><p> </p><p>jisung stiffened, and he suddenly felt like one of those kids at the side of the gym at a school dance again. he really hated that feeling — mainly because he more or less <em>was </em>one of those kids, at one point in time. </p><p> </p><p>chan turned to jisung, nodding a little. “why don’t you help innie cut up the carrots? i don’t trust him not to cut his fingertips off.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung nodded, albeit a little stiff, and finally dropped his backpack beside changbin’s feet. he made his way toward the kitchen, barely managing to return chan’s smile as he passed him. </p><p> </p><p>he heard chan say “let’s go upstairs” and changbin’s response of “am i in trouble?” and then suddenly jeongin was instructing him to wash his hands, handing him a knife, and directing him toward a cutting board with a pile of carrots scattered on top. </p><p> </p><p>apparently, they’d been prepared to kick jisung into the kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>the silence, as tense as it was for jisung, was mostly… relaxing. there was something almost serene about doing a repetitive, monotonous, simple task when there’d been so much chaos and uncertainty in the past twelve-ish hours. </p><p> </p><p>he had almost made it through the task without having to utter a single word when jeongin suddenly stopped dicing his tomato, his attention shifting to jisung. </p><p> </p><p>“i don’t know if it helps any,” he started, and jisung looked at him with confused eyes. “but i convinced chan-hyung that we should at least go see how many of the crawlers are at the school.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung gaped at him. “what?” </p><p> </p><p>shrugging, jeongin explained; “i figured it can’t hurt to at least check it out. we’ll be safe inside the truck-” debatable, actually “-and if there’s a lot of them around, <em> then </em>we’ll decide if we want to risk our lives or not. but there’s also a chance the crawlers have moved on already, and if that’s the case, we’d be stupid to not try to help them.” jeongin smiled a little. “so, i convinced chan-hyung, and right now he’s attempting to convince binnie-hyung.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t want to get his hopes up — it was still dangerous, and changbin could probably still re-convince chan that it was a bad idea because it really <em>was </em>a horrible idea. but jisung couldn’t help but hope that wouldn’t be the case. </p><p> </p><p>“thank you,” he finally said. “seriously, thank you. but… why?” </p><p> </p><p>jeongin grinned. “changbin-hyung said “no”, so, naturally, i say “yes.” </p><p> </p><p>“huh.” jisung nodded. “that’s valid, i guess.” </p><p> </p><p>jeongin nodded. he picked up his knife once more, but wasn’t done making conversation. “so where’d you get your katana from? it looks cool.” </p><p> </p><p>“i dunno,” jisung admitted. “i found it in my basement this morning. it was one of my parents’, but i don’t know why either of them would have had a katana. they’re such <em> boring </em>people.” jisung ended the last sentence with a large scowl. </p><p> </p><p>“maybe they’re secretly assassins.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung laughed a little. “my mom, maybe. my dad <em> literally </em> couldn’t kill a fly.” jisung pulled a face, nose scrunched and upper lip curling. “or even an ant.”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin pointed at him with his knife, and jisung wondered if he was even aware he was still holding it, or simply just didn’t care that he might accidentally stab someone (namely, jisung). “maybe that’s just what he wants you to think. he’s throwing you off his trail so that no one has reason to suspect him.” </p><p> </p><p>“suspect who of what?” jisung turned to the doorway, where changbin and chan stood. chan was the one that asked the question, looking utterly confused. </p><p> </p><p>“jisung’s dad is an assassin.” jeongin provided.</p><p> </p><p>“no-no he’s not.” jisung started cutting the carrots again, trying to make it look like he hadn’t subconsciously paused. </p><p> </p><p>“then why does he have a katana?” </p><p> </p><p>“it could be my mom’s,” jisung reminded him. </p><p> </p><p>“then she’s the assassin.” </p><p> </p><p>“neither of them are assassins—!” </p><p> </p><p>chan cut him off with a little laugh. jisung went quiet, his neck flushing a bright red. </p><p> </p><p>jisung anxiously wondered what they’d decided — if they would stay here where it was safe, or go back out into public and risk being attacked and mauled to death. </p><p> </p><p>thankfully, jeongin asked for him. “so are we going or not?” </p><p> </p><p>chan and changbin shared a quick look, one that jisung couldn’t read. </p><p> </p><p>chan’s next words nearly made him cry. </p><p> </p><p>“we’re going. we’ll sleep on it tonight and take another vote tomorrow morning in case anyone changed their minds, but as of now, we’re going.” </p><p> </p><p>jisung couldn’t tell if that was fear or relief flooding his system. either way, his nerves were quickly spiking through the roof. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>after dinner came the debate of where they would all sleep. </p><p> </p><p>option a: while jeongin and chan took jeongin’s bed, changbin and jisung would sleep in the master bedroom in jeongin’s parents’ california king bed -- </p><p> </p><p>“you realize your parents have had sex in that bed?”</p><p> </p><p>“that’s <em> so </em>nasty.” </p><p> </p><p>“you’re gonna make jisung vomit!” </p><p> </p><p>that idea was quickly shot down. </p><p> </p><p>option b: they all sleep in jeongin’s bedroom, the three guests scattered across the floor while jeongin slept peacefully in his own bed --</p><p> </p><p>“in <em> no </em> way is that even <em> remotely </em>fair.”</p><p> </p><p>“it’s <em> my </em>house!”</p><p> </p><p>“and it’s <em> my </em>back!” </p><p> </p><p>“you’re literally only eighteen. stop complaining about your nonexistent back issues.” </p><p> </p><p>that idea, too, was quickly deserted. </p><p> </p><p>option c: the four of them pile onto jeongin’s bed. </p><p> </p><p>they all sat for a long moment, staring at each other in contemplative silence. </p><p> </p><p>and again they moved back to the drawing board. </p><p> </p><p>option d: keeping in mind the idea that they should all be together in the same room, jisung suggested; “why don’t we bring your mattress down here? two of us can sleep on the couches and the other two can sleep on the mattress.”</p><p> </p><p>“why is jisung the only smart one here?”</p><p> </p><p>“he literally wants us all to charge to our deaths tomorrow morning. explain to me how he’s the “smart one”?”</p><p> </p><p>“i’m gonna stab you!”</p><p> </p><p>within the next five minutes, chan had dragged changbin up the stairs to help him grab the mattress, and jisung was charged with the task of helping jeongin push all of the furniture closer to the walls to make room for it. he struggled for a moment, his socks losing all traction on the carpet as he tried and failed to push the largest couch backward. </p><p> </p><p>“maybe it would be easier if you pulled it,” jeongin suggested. </p><p> </p><p>“yeah, probably,” jisung panted. he rounded the end of the couch and gripped onto the back of the center seat, planted his feet firm on the ground, and pulled.</p><p> </p><p>his feet slipped out from beneath him and his legs swung beneath the couch, making him fall hard on his butt. as if he wasn’t already aching enough, a sharp jolt of pain shot from his tailbone up his spine. </p><p> </p><p>“this is impossible,” he grumbled, using the couch to slowly pull himself up off the ground, and jeongin only laughed at him. </p><p> </p><p>by the time he and jeongin had moved the couch (jisung pulling while jeongin pushed from the other side), chan and changbin had managed to grapple the mattress through doors and around corners and were finally about halfway down the stairs. </p><p> </p><p>changbin was at the bottom, the mattress squished against his left cheek. “is your mattress filled with bricks?” he asked, a little bit of an exasperated growl to his voice, when he noticed jisung and jeongin watching them. </p><p> </p><p>“not that i’m aware of,” jeongin replied. “want some help?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin shook his head the best he could while it was shoved up against the mattress. “i’m good.”</p><p> </p><p>“uh-huh,” jeongin hummed. “well, can you hurry up? jisungie and i have to go up and get blankets and pillows.”</p><p> </p><p>“don’t rush me!” </p><p> </p><p>“don’t yell,” came from the top of the stairs. “we don’t know how good their hearing is.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin fell silent quickly, even holding back his heavy breaths as he carefully lowered himself down another step. jisung noticed jeongin stand the slightest bit straighter beside him, and the two of them looked past changbin and the mattress to find chan up at the top, struggling to hold it back from crushing changbin any further. </p><p> </p><p>“actually,” jisung started. “i don’t think they <em> can </em>hear -- or at least not well.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin was at the bottom of the staircase now, quickly shuffling his feet backward as chan pushed his end of the mattress down the steps. “what are you talking about?’</p><p> </p><p>and that was when jisung realized he hadn’t told them what had happened to him. changbin knew one of the crawlers had broken into his house, but that was it. none of them knew that he’d killed one only for it to come back to life, or that he was hiding in his basement as even more of them tore through his kitchen for who knew how long. </p><p> </p><p>so, as they set up the mattress in the center of the room, he relayed his tale. and once he was finished, he relayed his theory. </p><p> </p><p>“i think they might be relatively deaf. when i was fighting that first one, it was making a lot of noise, but nothing else came running -- and i know there were others around, because there were at least three of them outside on my porch when i escaped to the basement, and there was one still out there when i tried to climb out my window.” </p><p> </p><p>chan worried at his bottom lip. “why would they try to get into your house - specifically - in the first place?”</p><p> </p><p>jisung shrugged. “i dunno. i’ve been trying to figure it out, too, but the only thing i can come up with is that they’re mindless creatures who were curious --” jisung stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. he recalled his last thought before he’d thrown himself off his roof, and suddenly more puzzle pieces clicked together.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> maybe it can smell me. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“what are you thinking?” changbin urged, taking notice of jisung’s sudden shift in mood. </p><p> </p><p>“smell,” he said simply, already elaborating before anyone could yell at him to. “i think they rely on smell. after i “killed” the first one, it knew i was upstairs in my bedroom, but i don’t think it was because it could hear me. i think it’s because it could smell me.” jisung furrowed his brows. “i could be completely wrong, but…” he trailed off, wracking his brain and shoving random pieces together, even if they didn’t quite fit. “the coffee maker goes off itself at 5:30 so that there’s a pot ready for me before i go to school. that was around the time they started trying to break in.”</p><p> </p><p>there was silence, then, everyone absorbing the information jisung had suddenly dropped on them. </p><p> </p><p>“is coffee really strong enough of a smell to attract them, though?” chan countered. </p><p> </p><p>“my mom gets this <em>really </em>foreign brand - expensive, too,” jisung explained. “it smells so strong that sometimes she brews a pot just to get rid of a really bad smell in the kitchen. and i think the window was cracked open, too, so that would have helped.” </p><p> </p><p>“it makes <em> some </em>sense,” chan admitted. “but there’s still a lot of information we’re missing.”</p><p> </p><p>“i know. and i’m not saying that i’m right, either, this is purely a guess. but at least we have something of an understanding about them now.” </p><p> </p><p>“that’s true,” changbin sighed. “but i don’t know what good it’ll do us, especially if your hypothesis turns out to be wrong. we don’t even know how to kill them.”</p><p> </p><p>jisung’s shoulders deflated in disappointment. though he was proud of his theory, it really <em>wouldn’t </em>do them much good in the long run. or even the short run. not even really a sprint. </p><p> </p><p>then jeongin cracked a smile. “i can’t believe the crawlers are just a bunch of coffee addicts. you think they drank too much coffee and that’s why they’re crawlers now?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin flopped back onto the mattress and let out a dry, breathy laugh. “honestly, at this point, maybe.” <br/><br/><br/></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so basically in this chapter, we got;<br/>jisung: let's go save people and be heroic!<br/>changbin: no thanks I choose life :D<br/>jisung:  :(((</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. experimentation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>sleep, unsurprisingly, did not come easy, and not just for jisung.</p><p> </p><p>he figured it had to be close to midnight when the first soft snore came from the other couch, a succession of similar sounds steadily escaping changbin’s lips afterward. another fifteen minutes later, after his fourth trip to the bathroom and back, jeongin had finally stopped tossing and turning on the mattress. jisung didn’t think he’d seen the light of chan’s phone turn off at all, lightly illuminating his and jeongin’s shadowed features in the otherwise pitch-black room. </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t know what exactly was keeping all of them awake -- insomnia, nightmares, terrifying visions of crawlers chasing them to their deaths, and the impending doom and gloom of what was to come when the sun rose were all very possible -- but he knew, even in sleep, he wouldn’t be able to escape the memory of what had happened less than twenty-four hours ago. </p><p> </p><p>it was times like these that jisung hated his imaginative brain. not only were the memories of this morning’s crawler encounter flashing through his head, but his brain provided him with plenty of new nightmare fuel, too; visions of a crawler looming above him, jaw unhinged and long tongue rolling out and onto his face; visions of him on the ground, helpless, as an army of crawlers charged him; visions that turned his blood to ice. </p><p> </p><p>and the screams. the horrible, horrible screams and growls and guttural groans that the crawlers made. they echoed in his mind, rang in his ears, tortured him to the point that jisung slipped a pair of earbuds into his ears and blasted some old heavy metal, willing his hearing to fail so he would never have to hear those horrible sounds ever again. </p><p> </p><p>jisung thought he might have cried, too, though no sobs left his mouth or wracked his body. he remained tucked in a small ball, curled into the back of the couch. he vaguely remembered clutching onto a pillow tight, burying his face into it as soon as the first tear slipped from his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>and then jisung drifted off, seemingly for only a second before changbin was slapping his shoulder and threatening to dump water on his head if he didn’t wake up. </p><p> </p><p>“i’m up,” he groaned, blindly swatting at changbin behind him. for one glorious, heavenly moment, he’d forgotten all about the world around him. it was a normal saturday morning, and his hyung had come to hang out with him as a surprise. his mom would make them some fluffy pancakes for breakfast, and then they would walk to the arcade and jisung would invite felix so that his best friend and his favorite hyung could finally meet and --</p><p> </p><p>and then reality sunk in, like a heavy fog. </p><p> </p><p>jisung turned on his back with a sigh, disappointment settling in his chest. the urge to cry out in sorrow and frustration crawled from his stomach and up his throat, but he held it all down, instead gazing up at the white ceiling with a blank look. </p><p> </p><p>changbin tapped his shoulder again, a bit lighter this time. “come on, we have to get ready to go.”</p><p> </p><p>“mhm,” jisung grumbled. he watched as changbin turned and began a new task; waking up a still dozing jeongin. </p><p> </p><p>it took all of jisung’s willpower to sit up and swing his legs over the side of his couch. <em> for felix </em> , he told himself. <em> they were going to save felix.  </em></p><p> </p><p>he fumbled around, searching for his phone in the midst of all of his blankets and pillows. his earbuds had fallen out at some point in his sleep, and he could still vaguely hear the music still blasting from them. when he found it, on the verge of slipping down into the endless depths of the couch cushions, he quickly turned it on. he prayed for a missed call, a voicemail, a simple text message from felix. hoped that maybe he’d been able to charge his phone and could let jisung know that he was okay, or at the very least, still alive. </p><p> </p><p>nothing. </p><p> </p><p>of course. </p><p> </p><p>as jisung tucked his earbuds and phone into a smaller pocket of his backpack, he hoped to god that no one had changed their mind overnight. if even only one person objected to leaving the house, that meant none of them would go; they already had little chance of survival with four, and even less with three. </p><p> </p><p>changbin turned to him once more, finally dragging jeongin off the mattress. “get dressed and brush your teeth and stuff,” he told them, smoothing an exhausted jeongin’s hair back out of his forehead. “then we’ll take a vote.” </p><p> </p><p>jeongin yawned. “where’s channie hyung?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin nodded toward the front door. chan was sitting on the floor beneath the window, peeling back the curtains and peering outside once more. </p><p> </p><p>“just making sure we’re in the clear,” chan called out, briefly turning his gaze to jeongin with a soft smile. </p><p> </p><p>jeongin nodded and began moving toward the stairs, barely lifting his feet off the floor. </p><p> </p><p>jisung, however, remained seated on his couch. he was tired. his brain still had yet to fully wake up and function properly. his motivation was dwindling by the second. all he wanted to do was lay back down on the couch and sleep the day away. he didn’t want to deal with anything today. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> but felix.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>jisung heaved himself up off the couch. his movements were sluggish as he grabbed his backpack and began trudging down the hall toward the bathroom, suddenly registering how gross he really felt. he wanted a shower, but he knew they didn’t have the time. he would have to settle for brushing his teeth and washing his face, it seemed. if they made it back, <em> then </em>he would shower. </p><p> </p><p>the fact that his mind immediately went to “if” and not “when” scared him. </p><p> </p><p>was he really losing hope this quickly?</p><p> </p><p>maybe -- <em> hopefully </em>- it was just the morning grogginess talking. he’d feel better once he woke up more. </p><p> </p><p>fully dressed and ready to go, jisung stepped back out into the living room. chan, jeongin, and changbin were already there, a tense silence surrounding them. jisung set his bag down and settled back onto his couch, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. his hands swung loosely between his legs. </p><p> </p><p>chan was the first to speak, standing as tall as possible. “alright, first thing’s first; who votes we go to the school?”</p><p> </p><p>jisung immediately raised an arm, a little spark of happiness igniting in his chest when jeongin did the same. chan raised his own hand a few moments later, and then all eyes turned on changbin. </p><p> </p><p>he met jisung’s gaze, face expressionless and arms crossed across his chest. then his gaze fell on chan. he nodded, raised his right hand.</p><p> </p><p>jisung let out the breath he’d been holding. </p><p> </p><p>chan nodded, and all hands lowered. “alright, next matter; we need to come up with a game plan. we can’t just go in and wing it.”</p><p> </p><p>honestly, that <em>had </em>been jisung’s game plan. </p><p> </p><p>changbin shifted forward on his couch. “we can’t really come up with a game plan until we know what we’re dealing with. i say we stick to last night’s plan; go and see how many crawlers are still there. if we think we can make it, we attempt a rescue mission.” he looked to jisung, pointedly. “<em>only </em>if we think we can make it. otherwise, we turn around and come home.”</p><p> </p><p>jisung narrowed his eyes but nodded anyway. he wouldn’t be much help to felix and everyone else in there if he was dead. </p><p> </p><p>“everyone in agreement?” chan asked. he looked everyone in the eye, making sure they nodded before moving on. </p><p> </p><p>he turned to jeongin, who sat with his legs crossed on his mattress. “do you have anything we can use as weapons?”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin grinned.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>jisung wound up in the back row of the truck with jeongin, changbin in the passenger seat while chan drove. while he was disappointed he’d been booted to the back, he was relieved someone that actually <em>knew </em>how to drive was at the wheel, and not changbin. no offense to him, but he’d hit way too many trash cans and mailboxes for jisung to feel comfortable with him driving again. </p><p> </p><p>for the most part, jisung stuck to digging through the different buckets of tools between him and jeongin, stolen from jeongin’s father’s stash in the garage. though jisung and changbin would (hopefully) be fine with their katana and chainsaw, chan and jeongin would be relatively defenseless without anything stabby or throwable. so far, jisung had found a few screwdrivers and big wrenches and even a crowbar for chan, and jeongin had plenty of random things buried in his backpack, still digging through buckets for more. </p><p> </p><p>jisung held up a big rubber mallet, a slight quirk to his lips. “which one of you wants to be thor?” </p><p> </p><p>“me!” jeongin snatched the mallet from jisung’s hand and stuck his tongue out at chan in the rearview mirror. </p><p> </p><p>jisung laughed a little, bending back over the bucket between his legs and rifling through it. it wasn’t until changbin turned back and tapped the tops of their heads that jisung and jeongin finally looked up and out the front window. </p><p> </p><p>“look.” changbin pointed ahead of them, to a big department store. jisung counted three cars with their doors hanging wide open, and several people rushing around, pushing shopping carts full and empty to their cars and back. </p><p> </p><p>the looting had begun. </p><p> </p><p>it wasn’t as intense as jisung’s movies. no one was killing anyone else (yet) and it didn’t look too chaotic, and there certainly weren’t as many people as the movies said there would be. despite the fact that they were all being stupid and reckless, what with not even trying to hide themselves from any roaming crawlers, jisung was almost relieved to find that there were still other people alive in their town. </p><p> </p><p>“you think they’re gonna leave anything for us?” jeongin asked, twirling a screwdriver between his fingers.</p><p> </p><p>“probably not,” chan sighed. “but there are plenty more stores.”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin hummed, leaning back over his bucket and digging through it. </p><p> </p><p>jisung, however, watched the people at the department store until chan turned a corner and they were out of sight. he wondered how long it would be until more people crawled out of their homes, searching for food and other necessities. he wondered how long it would take for the apocalypse to truly look apocalyptic. </p><p> </p><p>it wasn’t long after that that they ran into their first crawler of the day. </p><p> </p><p>unlike changbin, who’d quickly changed direction the moment he or jisung spotted one, chan kept calm. his foot remained steady on the gas pedal, and despite changbin hissing at him to pick up the speed and drive away, he continued down the road. </p><p> </p><p>he shushed changbin, shaking off his hold on chan’s arm. “hold on, bin. i'm testing something.”</p><p> </p><p>“now is not the time for experiments!” changbin whisper-yelled. </p><p> </p><p>chan just shushed him again. </p><p> </p><p>jisung watched the crawler, eyes wide and unblinking, as they grew closer and closer to it. it was just roaming around, seemingly with no goal or destination in mind. and then its eyes locked on the truck, and it stopped still. </p><p> </p><p>“chan,” changbin warned, and jeongin looked up. </p><p> </p><p>“i know, bin.” came chan’s response. but he didn’t speed up, and jisung wondered if maybe changbin really would have been the better driver. at least changbin’s fight or flight response was still functioning. </p><p> </p><p>and then they passed the crawler, sitting in the patch of grass beside the road. it turned its head, watching as the truck rolled on down the street. </p><p> </p><p>changbin stopped whining, and the three not driving quickly turned around to watch the crawler out the back window. </p><p> </p><p>jisung’s mouth fell open. “why isn’t it following us?”</p><p> </p><p>chan looked up into the rearview mirror. “i dunno. i thought that maybe if we kept going past it, it would be able to smell the gas in the tank.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin whirled on chan, smacking his arm. “and you still went past it!? what if it tried to chase us?”</p><p> </p><p>“then i would have driven away,” chan responded. </p><p> </p><p>changbin scoffed. </p><p> </p><p>“maybe it didn’t like the smell of gasoline?” jisung contributed. “it doesn’t say much, but changbin hyung and i passed two gas stations yesterday and there weren’t crawlers at either of them.”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin hummed. “so they’re picky eaters?”</p><p> </p><p>jisung shrugged. “just a theory.” </p><p> </p><p>“if they don’t like the smell of gas, then that means the truck is the safest place to be right now.” changbin turned in his seat so that he could face all three of them simultaneously. </p><p> </p><p>“only until we run out of gas,” chan offered. </p><p> </p><p>“you’re such a party pooper.”</p><p> </p><p>“fair.”</p><p> </p><p>“all of this thinking is hurting my brain,” jisung grumbled. “are we almost to the school?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin nodded. “about five more minutes. when we get there, try to park as close to the front door as possible.”</p><p> </p><p>“oh, really?” chan asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “i hadn’t thought of that. thank you, bin.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin glared at him. “i don’t appreciate your sarcasm, hyung.”</p><p> </p><p>chan just smirked at him. </p><p> </p><p>jisung leaned forward and poked his head between the front two seats. “do you know where the dance team practices, hyung?”</p><p> </p><p>changbin shook his head. “i’ve only been in the school a handful of times. i think my dad said something once about the “performing arts” hallway, but i don’t know where it is.”</p><p> </p><p>“maybe by the gym?” chan guessed. </p><p> </p><p>“i think there’s, like, three gyms.”</p><p> </p><p>“who the <em> fuck </em> needs <em> three </em>gyms?”</p><p> </p><p>“rich people,” changbin offered. then, “there are two floors. we have no clue which floor they’re stuck on, so depending on how many crawlers there are, i vote we split into teams of two--”</p><p> </p><p>chan immediately objected. “no splitting up.”</p><p> </p><p>“but you didn’t even let me finish--!”</p><p> </p><p>“no.”</p><p> </p><p>“hyung--!”</p><p> </p><p>“no.”</p><p> </p><p>“but i have an idea--!”</p><p> </p><p>“still no.”</p><p> </p><p>changbin groaned and slumped down into his seat. “fine, what’s <em> your </em>plan then?”</p><p> </p><p>chan thought for a moment, eyes focused solely on the road ahead of him. “we stick together, start at the bottom and work our way up to the second floor. we take it slow, and carefully check every corner before turning. the last thing we need is to attract the attention of any crawlers while we’re stuck inside.”</p><p> </p><p>“i agree with channie hyung,” jeongin announced, and jisung nodded in agreement. </p><p> </p><p>“i hate you all,” changbin grumbled.</p><p> </p><p>“no you don’t, hyung.”</p><p> </p><p>“says you.”</p><p> </p><p>ignoring jeongin and changbin’s argument, jisung pulled his phone out of his backpack, finding felix’s contact once more. he prepared himself for the worst, knowing that if felix’s phone hadn’t charged overnight then it probably wouldn’t be charged now. </p><p> </p><p>still, he pressed the call button. </p><p> </p><p>straight to voicemail. </p><p> </p><p>jisung lowered his phone with a dejected sigh, then tucked it into his pants pocket. </p><p> </p><p>“still not answering?” chan asked, and jisung looked up into the rearview mirror, meeting chan’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>he shook his head. </p><p> </p><p>and then the school came into view. </p><p> </p><p>it was huge, at least twice as wide as it was tall. and the crawlers -- they were scattered. but there was still a lot of them. jisung counted six on this side of the school alone, and he didn’t doubt there were even more inside. </p><p> </p><p>“welp,” changbin sighed. “we’re doomed.” </p><p> </p><p>“uh-huh,” jeongin mumbled, staring out his window with wide, terrified eyes. </p><p> </p><p>chan pulled into the parking lot. </p><p> </p><p>jisung’s breath caught in his throat. </p><p> </p><p>crawlers turned toward them, their movements gradually slowing to a stop. </p><p> </p><p>chan weaved through rows of cars.</p><p> </p><p>jisung tried to remember that the crawler didn’t come after them earlier. </p><p> </p><p>his heart pounded inside his chest.</p><p> </p><p>a crawler took a step forward. stopped. </p><p> </p><p>chan stopped the car right in front of the main door of the school.</p><p> </p><p>they waited for what felt like forever. chan put the car in park but didn’t turn off the engine in case they needed to make a quick getaway. jisung’s eyes flickered between each of the crawlers still in sight, willing them to turn away and continue on with their milling around so that jisung could slip inside the school undetected. </p><p> </p><p>and they did. one by one, slowly but surely, the crawlers turned away. moved on, lumbering around without aim. </p><p> </p><p>chan turned, his hair bouncing around. “are we doing this?”</p><p> </p><p>and for the first time, jisung hesitated. he wanted to save felix, but to do so he’d have to put his nonexistent sneaking skills to use. he’d have to muster up all of his courage, and he didn’t know how much of that he really had left. </p><p> </p><p>he leaned toward “no.” he really considered telling chan to turn around and take them back to jeongin’s house, where they’d be safe. but as soon as the thought entered his mind, he felt sick. he couldn’t just turn around now that they were so close. not when felix was so close. </p><p> </p><p>jisung nodded. “i’m ready.”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin shuffled forward beside him, his nod stiff. “me… me too.”</p><p> </p><p>“we’re probably gonna die,” changbin said, but nodded nonetheless. “but i guess as long as we’re careful… i think we’ll be fine. we just -- we just gotta be careful.”</p><p> </p><p>chan let out a deep exhale. “alright. we all go out the passenger side and book it to the door. once we’re inside, i think we should search for a map in the main office. then we’ll have a better idea of where we need to go.” </p><p> </p><p>after a round of confirming nods, letting chan know that they all understood, chan grabbed his backpack from jisung’s awaiting hands. he pulled out his crowbar and slung the bag onto his shoulders, getting ready to jump over the center console and climb out of changbin’s door. jisung did the same. </p><p> </p><p>jisung looked back once more, making sure none of the crawlers were paying them any attention. </p><p> </p><p>chan started the count off. “on three, we go.”</p><p> </p><p>jisung flexed his fingers around the hilt of his katana. </p><p> </p><p>“one,”</p><p> </p><p>jeongin wrapped his hand around the door handle, pulling it back in preparation to throw the door open. </p><p> </p><p>“two,” </p><p> </p><p>changbin rolled his shoulders, his face void of any fear. but you could see it in his eyes, in the way they glossed over. you could see it in the way his fingers twitched around the handle of his own door. </p><p> </p><p>“three. go!”</p><p> </p><p>changbin and jeongin threw their doors open, tumbling out of the truck and sprinting the few feet to the front door. jisung crawled over the buckets of tools and practically fell out of the truck, only pausing for a second to close the truck door behind him. he chased after chan into the school, changbin holding open the door and ushering them inside. </p><p> </p><p>jisung didn’t look back. his ears rang and the wind slapped against his face. and then suddenly he was inside, changbin closing the doors behind him. </p><p> </p><p>they were safe. they made it inside. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> holy fuck.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>felix had been in the same spot for hours. </p><p> </p><p>after his phone had died, his call with jisung cut off, a bunch of people from the dance team and some teachers decided to risk it and left the practice room. </p><p> </p><p>but felix stayed. </p><p> </p><p>their screams still echoed in his mind. he didn’t think any of them managed to escape. </p><p> </p><p>at the first scream, he slumped down the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest and hiding his face in them. his hands found their way to his ears, trying to block out the horrible wails full of agony and terror. the growls, too. it was all so <em>horrible</em>. the tears began flowing as an arm wrapped around his shoulders, one of his hyungs tucking his shaking form into their side. </p><p> </p><p>felix barely registered as the remaining people quickly moved around the room, grabbing whatever they could find and shoving it up against the doors; a table, their speakers, a nearly-empty vending machine tucked away in the corner of the room. </p><p> </p><p>felix stayed in his spot, body curled into a small ball. his hyung was there, comforting him the best he could. one of his teammates joined, too. </p><p> </p><p>and that was where they stayed for the rest of the night. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. notes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i looked at my calendar on october 31st and then suddenly it was december ;-;</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>the inside of the school was, for lack of a better word, eerie. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung had never been inside of a school on a weekend, for starters. and then there was the lack of students roaming through the halls, the emergency lights flickering overhead, and the overall deafening silence -- the kind that settled in your bones and made goosebumps pop up all across your skin despite wearing three layers of clothes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>not to mention the trail of black footprints leading down the hallway and the nasty smell of crawler body odor and death. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>a shiver raced down jisung’s spine, and he took a step back away from the window, sliding the open pane closed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>as soon as they’d made it inside the school, the stench nearly knocking them out but otherwise unscathed and alive, (the rate of jisung’s beating heart was testing his limits, though) chan had pulled them into the main office, claiming they should search for a map before heading off into that maze of a high school. jisung hadn’t noticed the large, three-toed, tar-like footprints until he decided to lean out the secretary’s window. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jeongin was beside him, eyes wide. their gazes met for a moment before they looked back to the window. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“what do we do?” jeongin asked, his voice barely audible. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“cry, probably,” jisung replied. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jeongin nodded. “sounds like a good idea.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan came up beside him, a piece of paper in his hands folded up like a pamphlet. “what are we crying about?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung simply pointed to the window, his finger angled toward the floor. “those.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan raised a brow but leaned across the secretary’s desk, angling his head enough that he could peek out the window without opening it. when his eyes landed on the footprints, they shot wide and he took a step back. “yeah. those are definitely something to cry about. um, anyway...” he held up the paper in his hand, slapping it against his other palm lightly. “found a map. bin’s looking at another one -- trying to find where the dance team might practice.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung wondered how he could just brush over the topic of </span>
  <em>
    <span>crawler footprints</span>
  </em>
  <span> so easily. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“shouldn’t it just be a room labeled “dance team?” jeongin snatched the map from chan’s grasp, unfolding it and scanning over it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan shrugged, gesturing loosely at the flimsy sheet of paper with his hand. “in theory, yeah -- but there’s nothing like that labeled on there.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung (deciding to momentarily brush off the footprints as well, however difficult it was) stepped around jeongin, peering over his shoulder to take a peek at the map. “i think i remember lix saying something about how they don’t really have an official “dance practice” room. they just use an empty club room -- but i don’t remember how long ago that was. things might have changed since then.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin slid over to them, a large frown on his lips. “so, basically, this map is useless?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“great. of course it is.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jeongin then pointed to something on the map. “what about this?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan rounded jeongin’s other side while changbin pressed close to jsiung, all three immediately zeroing in on where the tip of jeongin’s finger was placed. it was the second floor, on the complete opposite end of the school. and yet, the whole area was helpfully labeled “clubrooms.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung turned to changbin. “how did you not see that?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin flicked his forehead -- again. “i didn’t know we were looking for clubrooms!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan shook his head. “excuses, excuses.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin let out an indignant yell, but jeongin was quick to place his whole hand over changbin’s mouth, cutting him off. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin sent him a glare, but it didn’t deter the maknae.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“do you want to die?” jeongin asked him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin shook his head, eyes wide and almost innocent-looking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“then don’t yell.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jeongin’s hand dropped as chan added; “yeah, we still haven’t really proved jisung’s theory right or wrong yet.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung turned to changbin, smirking. “dude,” he laughed, “you just got schooled by the maknae.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin slapped his shoulder, his neck flushing a bright red. “shut up!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“both of you shut up,” chan berated. he wasn’t looking at them, though -- instead, he was focused on the map again, scanning back and forth across it quickly. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“sorry, hyung,” they both replied. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>it was a few moments before he finally looked up from the map. “alright, i think i found the quickest way to get to the clubrooms. the only problem -- once we get up there, the only way to get back down is to come back the way we came, or to jump out a window.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“so we’re basically trapping ourselves,” changbin sighed. “why can’t things ever be easy? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jeongin looked up with a sweet, saccharine smile. “because life is shit, hyung.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>thank you</span>
  </em>
  <span> for that </span>
  <em>
    <span>wise </span>
  </em>
  <span>insight.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you’re welcome!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin shot jisung a look -- like he was going through all five stages of grief within the same millisecond. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung just snorted and turned to chan. “which way do we go first?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan looked down at the map, turned, looked up, looked back down, then pointed left. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“the footprints lead that way, hyung,” jeongin pointed out. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan switched the map to his other hand, then pointed right. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“better.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they followed their plan, for the most part, until they were halfway across the first floor. they reached the first set of stairs that would lead them to the upper floor without any crawler sightings, chan leading the way, map in hand, making them all pause at </span>
  <em>
    <span>every single corner</span>
  </em>
  <span> until he deemed it safe to push forward. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung was grateful, of course -- he didn’t think he would’ve been able to do any of this on his own. but he was getting antsy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they were so close to felix. </span>
  <em>
    <span>so close. </span>
  </em>
  <span>but he knew something had to go wrong soon, it’s just how things were. like changbin said, “nothing was ever easy.” they would come across a crawler, or maybe multiple. worst-case scenario, they’d find that felix was already dead and they’d come all this way for nothing. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he tried to push that thought away as they began climbing the stairs, chan still in the lead and changbin bravely taking up the rear. he’d take a thousand crawlers over finding felix’s dead body. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>or maybe he wouldn’t. maybe 999 crawlers were his limit. he hoped he wouldn’t have to find out anytime soon. or ever. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>then they reached the sixth step from the top, and chan stopped abruptly. his head barely peeked over the very last stair. jisung ran right into his back, but chan just reached back blindly and grabbed his forearm to stabilize them both. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung looked up at him questioningly when chan glanced back. his eyes were wide, and his hand was gripped tight around jisung’s arm. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>crawlers?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> jisung mouthed, almost terrified of the answer, even if he already knew it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan nodded. he held up his empty hand. four fingers were raised. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>shit. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshi-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan waved his hand, ushering them back down the stairwell. they were each quick to spin around and rush back down, the only sound being their sneakers (and jisung’s boots, because if he was going out he was going to do it in style goddammit) pattering against the linoleum flooring. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they paused once more at the bottom of the stairs, impatiently waiting for chan to tell them which way to go. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan only had to take a quick glance at the map before he was back to the front of the group, leading them further down the hallway. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>when they were far enough away, he looked back over his shoulder to whisper; “minor detour. there’s two more sets of stairs up ahead. we’ll go to the farthest one and get as far away from those crawlers as possible.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung didn’t think his heart rate would ever go back down. from that moment forward, he figured he’d just be in a constant state of three-heartbeats-away-from-heart-failure. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>this time, when they made it to the top of the stairwell, no crawlers were there to greet them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the four of them let out a collective sigh. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“almost there,” chan told them. “three more turns, and then we’re at the clubrooms.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>well, three more turns plus a pile of dead bodies and blood and guts that had both jisung and changbin throwing up, jeongin in tears, and chan dry heaving, and they were at the clubrooms. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they were all silent after that. none of them really knew what to say or how else to react to something as horrible as that. and so they didn’t -- they kept quiet and pushed on. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan looked through the window of the first door before trying the handle. locked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung tried the one beside him while changbin and jeongin tried the doors opposite them. all three were locked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they moved on down the hall, taking quick, cautious peeks behind them every few seconds to make sure no crawlers were turning a corner. after all, they were at a dead end; if a crawler </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>appear, it was either fight and/or die -- unless they found an unlocked door. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>almost halfway down the hall, jisung came to a door with a blocked window. someone had taken a vending machine and pushed it up against the door. they only had three bottles of sparkling water left. ew. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>it had to be this one. this was where felix was.</span>
  <em>
    <span> it had to be. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan came up beside him. “you think they’re in there?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung nodded, and the pair looked back down the hallway. no crawlers yet. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“how do we get it open? and how do we get through the barricade?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan tried the handle, but jisung didn’t know what he was expecting. out of all the rooms, this one would </span>
  <em>
    <span>especially </span>
  </em>
  <span>be locked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin came over, holding a fire extinguisher out to chan. jeongin was only a few steps behind him, holding onto changbin’s sleeve. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“where the hell did you find that?” jsiung asked. he hadn’t seen any in this hallway. granted, he hadn’t really been looking all that closely. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin pointed directly across the hall, where an empty metal hook lay with a fire alarm beside it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>yeah, jisung definitely hadn’t been looking closely. “oh.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan raised the fire extinguisher above his head, ready to slam it down on the door handle when jisung stopped him. “don’t you think we should, i dunno, warn them first? they could think we’re crawlers and try to attack us.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“oh, look at that,” changbin mused. “you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a brain.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung stuck his tongue out at him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“how do we warn them?” jeongin asked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“well, we could yell,” jisung offered. “but as all of you keep pointing out; we don’t know if my theory is right or not.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“what if we knocked?” jeongin supplied. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan reached forward and knocked three times, loud enough to be heard from inside. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>no response. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung then handed jeongin his katana and shrugged off his backpack, digging through until he found the notebook and marker he’d stashed inside the day before. he ripped out a sheet of paper, wrote “hi felix'' in big, bold marker, then folded the piece of paper into a thin triangle-ish shape. he laid down on his stomach and closed an eye, peering beneath the door. the gap looked big enough for the paper to fit through.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“what are you doing?” changbin asked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung ignored him, slapped the paper onto the floor, and launched it beneath the door frame. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he could only hope that his note made it past the barricade. if not, then they’d have to resort to yelling. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix hadn’t really bothered paying attention to much of anything since he woke up the first time that morning. he was aware of his head being shifted in their assistant coach’s lap and the fingers carding through his hair. he knew there was a hand that belonged to one of his teammates on his bent knee, its thumb tracing circles on the flat bone through his sweats. he registered they were talking every once in a while -- maybe about him -- but he hadn’t bothered to listen to them, instead drifting in and out of sleep. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>then hyunjin tapped his fingers on felix’s knee. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix didn’t think hyunjin was trying to get his attention. it was just a little tick -- something to keep the nerves and boredom from spiraling. but felix tuned in. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“how long do you think we’ll be stuck here, hyung?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho’s fingers stopped still in felix’s hair. felix finally opened his eyes, peering up at his hyung’s grave expression. minho chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, avoiding hyunjin’s gaze, before he replied. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“i don’t know.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix tuned out again. he didn’t know how much time had passed since the sun rose or since he’d last let sleep overtake his body. all he knew was that they were pretty much doomed to live out the rest of their lives here in this shitty clubroom. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>and then another of their teammates came over, stopping just next to their little group. all three looked up at him with expectant, questioning gazes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he waved the unfolded piece of paper in his hand, the movement catching their attention. “this was slid under the doorway,” he explained. then he turned it around, felix’s eyes shooting wide open as he read the words. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>hi felix.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix knew that handwriting. and only one person knew where he was. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he sat up, snatching the paper out of his nameless teammate’s hand. he turned to face minho, frantic as he asked; “do you have a pen?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho turned and grabbed the bag he’d been leaning on, digging through the open pocket. felix waited impatiently, then flashed a huge grin when minho pulled a pink pen out of the depths of his shit-filled backpack. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“thanks, hyung.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>hyunjin leaned forward, peering over felix’s shoulder as he wrote on the piece of paper. he glanced between the word “twin?” written in felix’s tiny, pink handwriting, and the sudden gleeful expression on the other boy’s face. “you gonna explain what’s happening, lixie?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him, because he was on his feet before hyunjin could finish his sentence. as he quickly made his way toward the blockade covering the doorway, he folded the paper back up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>hyunjin’s eyebrows rose halfway up his forehead when felix suddenly got down on all fours, launching the paper under the gap between the floor and the bottom of the vending machine. he stayed there for a few seconds, watching as the paper slipped beneath the door, too. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix didn’t return to their corner, so hyunjin and minho shared a look before joining felix and the others by the door. they crouched down beside him, and minho tapped his shoulder. “care to fill us in?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“yeah, yeah,” felix replied. but he stayed down on the ground, an eye closed as he stared into the small gap. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they waited for him to explain. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>but then the paper came flying back through the gap, hitting felix in the face. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he didn’t seem to care as a grin spread across his lips, and he all but tore the paper open. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>beneath felix’s pink writing, there was another message; a smiley face, and the words “let me in - here to rescue you!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix dropped the paper, immediately jumping up and grabbing the nearest small object. he practically threw one of their smaller speakers to the side before he moved onto the next object, equally as careless. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>one of their teammates stepped forward, ready to stop him and a curse on the tip of his tongue, but minho held a hand out in front of him as hyunjin moved to give felix a hand. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“there’s someone out there,” minho explained. then he, too, moved forward to help. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>pretty soon the only obstacle left was the vending machine. while felix and hyunjin pushed from one side, minho pulled from the other. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>with the vending machine out of the way, they had a perfect view of the boy staring in through the window, hopeful eyes trained directly on felix and a katana thrown over his shoulder. three other boys could be seen behind him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix didn’t waste any time in unlocking the door and yanking it open. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the boy rushed forward, dropping his katana, throwing his arms around felix’s neck, and taking them both down onto the ground. felix let out a laugh, or maybe it was a sob. the other guy was definitely crying, his shoulders shaking violently. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>and then as soon as it began, the moment was over. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the other three boys rushed in, quick to close the door behind them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the one with the curly blonde hair spoke the words that stopped everyone’s hearts.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“crawlers -- two of them. everyone get out of sight!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. too easy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>jisung, quite honestly, hadn’t been expecting to find felix. he thought maybe they’d die before they could make it to the clubrooms. he thought maybe he’d find felix, dead, along with the rest of felix’s dance club. to find him alive, and to have made it there without dying himself, was an actual miracle.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>now, they just had to find a way to get back out to the truck without being mauled by crawlers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix had yet to stop clinging to him. jisung had yet to try and push him away. he didn’t think he would ever again — if they lived past the next few hours, that is. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan and changbin stood by the door with the guy felix called minho, watching for any crawlers that might come by. the last one had left about fifteen minutes ago, but without leaving the room, they couldn’t tell where it had gone to, or if another would take its place. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung knew he should probably go over and help them plan, but he had felix on one arm, jeongin sticking close to his opposite side, and — hyunjin, was it? — leaning on felix’s lap, and he didn’t feel like dragging all three over, let alone just one of them. still…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung patted felix’s arm, slowly shifting his weight to stand. “come on, lix,” he coaxed. “stand up with me.” felix did as told, clinging onto jisung tighter. there were tear stains dripping down his cheeks and he had yet to really say much to jisung, and still, he complied. jeongin followed as well, and though he hadn’t expected hyunjin to follow, jisung wasn’t really surprised that he did. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“do we have a plan yet?” he asked when they reached the group by the door. the rest of the dance team had been keeping their distance, wary of jisung and the others. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan shrugged. “nothing other than the plan we used to get up here.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“so basically, “be careful,” changbin summed up. he hadn’t said anything about his dad yet, but jisung knew he was thinking about him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung nodded. “it worked to get us up here, so shouldn’t it work to get back to the truck?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan sighed. “in theory, yeah. but we weren’t counting for this many people. the three of you —“ felix, minho, and hyunjin “— we can fit no problem. anyone else, and we’ll have to start putting people on the bed of the truck.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“the bigger the group, the easier it’ll be to find us,” changbin added. “we’d be better off leaving people behind or splitting into two groups.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“i can’t just leave them behind.” minho promised. “with the coach not here, these kids are all my responsibility, end of the world or not.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“again, we can’t take all of them.” chan reminded. “there’s just not enough room. but we’ll take anyone that wants to come along. if we have to, we might be able to hotwire another car or something.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you’d be safer putting them on the back of the truck.” jisung absentmindedly ruffled felix’s hair when he squeezed jisung’s arm tighter. “it’ll take too much time to try to hotwire a car, and i doubt anyone here actually knows how to do it.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan sighed, nodding. he moved closer to the door, pressing his face up against it and looking out the window toward the end of the hallway. “if we don’t see another crawler in the next five minutes, i say we leave. everyone okay with that?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>everyone murmured their agreements, and chan turned to minho. “can you let everyone know the plan? give them the option to come with us or stay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho nodded, leaving the small group to rush around the room and inform everyone of their plan. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung ignored them, looking down at felix. “you good, lixie?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix nodded. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>hyunjin patted felix’s back, making quick eye contact with jisung over his head. “felix mentioned you a few times, i think.” hyunjin told him. “han jisung, right?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung nodded. “hwang hyunjin?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>hyunjin smiled at him. “really think we’ll make it out of here alive?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung sighed. “i don’t know. we made it up here, though, so…” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho was back with one minute left, a frown pulling at his lips. “they’re not coming with. none of them. they said we’re idiots for even thinking about leaving.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“i don’t blame them,” hyunjin said, voice soft. “not after what happened to the people that tried to leave yesterday.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung raised a brow. “what happened yesterday?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho’s gaze fell to the floor. “they barely made it five minutes.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung didn’t know what to say to that. so he didn’t say anything. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan glanced at the clock. “time to go.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>while chan looked back out the window, minho turned to the rest of the dance team. “last chance,” he told them. “we can’t come back for you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they all stared back at him for a moment. one stood up, but their friend pulled them back down, shaking his head with a warning. they stayed down after that. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho sighed, biting his lip. he turned away from them, and jisung watched his chest rise and fall with a deep breath. jisung didn’t even have to know him to know he felt guilty. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“alright, everyone ready?” chan asked. “stay behind me, stop when i say to, and keep your eyes and ears sharp. hear or see anything, let us know.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>everyone nodded, and with a shaky breath chan pushed the door open, carefully leading them out of the room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung and changbin took up the rear. the door was quickly locked behind them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>no going back now. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they didn’t make it far before chan had them stop. granted, they made it farther than jisung thought they would. chan had them wait it out until the crawler moved along, then had them keep moving. it happened twice more, chan either pausing or leading them a different way to avoid the crawler. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung didn’t like not being towards the front. he couldn’t see what was happening, only had the line of people in front of him to let him know. felix and hyunjin were directly in front of him, minho and jeongin in front of them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan led them down to the first floor without any difficulty, taking them a different way than the way they came up — to avoid the pile of bodies, jisung realized. he was thankful. he didn’t want to throw up again. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>and, somehow, they made it to the front entrance without running into a crawler. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they stopped at the doors, scanning the parking lot for crawlers. none were too close, and the truck was close enough that with a quick sprint they could probably make it in unharmed. jisung almost dared to laugh. it had been too easy. he didn’t think the zombie apocalypse was supposed to be this easy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“here’s the plan,” chan started. jisung briefly wondered how they’d all just automatically turned to him as their leader. “jeongin, changbin, front of the truck. the rest of you, use the back doors. try not to run around the truck if you can help it -- it’ll take too long.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>and with that, they were out the door, careful to stay low and out of sight of the crawlers as they shoved into the truck. minho and hyunjn wound up on the far side of the back row, hyunjin settled on minho’s lap. felix and jisung were in a similar position, and changbin was in jeongin’s lap in the front seat. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan turned the key in the ignition, threw the truck into drive, and then they were speeding out of the parking lot, back toward jeongin’s house. none of the crawlers came after them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>hyunjin leaned back against minho, his soul seemingly leaving his body. “can we breathe now?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho peered around him. “thank you guys for rescuing us. i don’t know how long we would have lasted if we stayed.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung saw chan glance up in the rearview mirror. “you’re welcome. i’m sorry we couldn’t get anyone else out.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho bit his lip again, turning to look out the window. “they’re the ones that decided not to come. you have nothing to apologize for.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung felt felix shift in his lap. he loosened his grip around felix’s waist so he could turn sideways, his back up against the window. both of their backpacks had been dropped on the floor of the truck. "you’re an idiot, sungie,” he told him. but there was a smile on his lips, and his shoulders weren’t as tense as they’d been when they were still stuck inside the school.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“i know,” jisung agreed. “i couldn’t just leave you there, though. otherwise, i’d have been stuck with just changbin-hyung the rest of my life, and that sounded like a nightmare.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“yah!” changbin leaned around the back of the passenger seat. “i am a delight to be around! you’d be lucky to die with me!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung grinned at him. he wanted to ask changbin about his father, maybe if changbin recognized him as one of the dead bodies or if he was at least glad he went, just in case there was a chance his dad was still alive. but jisung didn’t think he’d appreciate it with other people around. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“just teasing, hyung. you get riled up too easily.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>no one fully relaxed until they were safely inside jeongin’s house, doors locked and curtains pulled shut across the windows. they took turns taking quick showers, each of them sweaty and feeling completely disgusting, even though they hadn’t gotten close enough to any of the crawlers to get its sludge on them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>just </span>
  <em>
    <span>looking </span>
  </em>
  <span>at the sludge made them feel gross. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>it was only mid-afternoon, but they pulled jeongin’s parent’s bed downstairs, everyone fully onboard with sleeping all in the same room. jeongin grabbed everyone clothes to change into and -- after much debate -- started a load of laundry so that their own clothes would be clean the next morning. jisung helped chan grab blankets and pillows from the linen closet and jeongin’s parent's bed, throwing them all into a pile on the resettled mattress. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they’d figure out sleeping arrangements later. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>once the last person was out of the shower, chan called them all into the living room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“jeongin looked through all of the food, and we only have enough to last until maybe wednesday,” he told them. today was saturday. “we can push it to friday if we ration and keep it to three meals a day -- no snacking. we’ll have to go out and restock at some point, either before we run out, or until there’s a threat of dying from starvation.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin threw himself down on the couch he’d been sleeping on the night before. “we can’t all go. there’s not enough weapons.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“we’ll figure out who’s going when the time comes. don’t worry about it for now, though. we’ll be fine until wednesday, at the very least.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan then left to figure out dinner, jeongin trailing behind him. changbin snuggled into his couch, taking a well-deserved nap. minho and hyunjin began setting up the mattress where they and felix would most likely be sleeping later that night, and jisung and felix settled on the couch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you really are <em>so</em> stupid,” felix whispered, laying lengthwise along the couch and wrapping his arms around jisung’s waist. “what if you’d died? what if i was dead and you risked your life for nothing?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“but i didn’t and you weren’t. we’re safe now, lix, and as long as we’re careful, we’ll stay safe.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix hummed, eyes drifting shut. though he’d slept through most of the morning, his mental exhaustion was catching up to him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung began carding his fingers through felix’s hair. “were you able to try calling your parents before your phone died?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix nodded. “they’re okay -- or at least they were when they called. mom said they were all still at home when the crawlers started attacking and dad shoved them all into the panic room. there isn’t any service inside it, so she had to leave for a few minutes to call me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“so your sisters are safe too?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>felix nodded again. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“good. you should try calling them again. see if they answer.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“have to charge my phone first.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>neither of them moved to get up and do so. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>hyunjin and minho plopped down onto their mattress. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>everyone nodded off until chan and jeongin called them for dinner.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>it was kind of domestic, really. and again, jisung wondered how they’d managed to make it through the first two days of the apocalypse so easily. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>my update schedule is literally nonexistent i am so sorry</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. team 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tw//alcoholism mentioned</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>the room was quiet. not uncomfortably so, but still odd. with seven people sleeping in one room, you’d think there’d be a series of snores, the occasional creak of a mattress with shifting weight, maybe a stray sneeze or cough or yawn. even felix, who refused to leave jisung’s side and had been laying on top of him on the couch for the last two-ish hours, was motionless, breath even enough that jisung couldn’t tell if he’d dozed off or not yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the lack of noise made jisung wonder if any of them were actually asleep. it would make sense that none of them could drift off, but it also didn’t. everyone was bound to be so exhausted that sleep should have come easily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and still, his body drained of energy and aching in places he didn’t know existed, jisung’s mind kept him awake. he’d had issues with insomnia before the apocalypse, his mind never slowing down or giving him a break. then, popping three melatonin at once had been an easy fix. but his bottle of melatonin was still sitting on top of his bedside table, one of the things jisung had forgotten in his rush to escape his own house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>maybe he’d be lucky enough to find a new bottle when they went out for supplies. maybe he’d be lucky enough to make it back alive and actually put it to use.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix shifted his legs to wrap them around jisung’s and turned his head so that his right ear lay on jisung’s heart instead of his left. a soft sigh left his parted lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>so <em>felix</em> was awake, at least. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung lifted a hand to tap a simple beat into the dip between felix’s shoulder blades, letting him know that he was awake, too. or maybe felix had already known, the beat of jisung’s heart still wired up enough that the prospect of him being asleep was laughable. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix lifted a hand to jisung’s face, tapping the beat back on his forehead. jisung couldn’t help the huff of amusement at felix’s response. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the others may not be asleep, but jisung didn’t dare say a word. he refused to be the one to interrupt the silence of the room. it was so peaceful, and yet so tense, that the thought of breaking through that blanket of white noise caused a small swell of anxiety in his chest. or maybe it was the thoughts swirling through his head that had created that unpoppable bubble. it could have been both, really.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix must have felt the dip in jisung’s heartbeat because he lifted his head to look jisung in the eyes. he didn’t ask it aloud, but jisung knew what the head tilt meant. he knew what the shine in felix’s eyes was asking. </span>
  <em>
    <span>are you okay?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung nodded, though he knew he wasn’t. how could he be, when it was bordering day three of the apocalypse and he hadn’t heard from his parents once in the last 35 hours? when he’d nearly lost his best friend, and would probably never see the rest of his friends ever again? he’d already lost any and all hope of ever seeing his extended family that first day when he was stuck in his basement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the world had gone to shit. so how could he be okay?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>still, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>nodded</span>
  </em>
  <span>. yes, he was okay. he was okay enough because felix was safe and he would give it his all to make sure it stayed that way. there was no way he’d let felix go on the supply run, and if crawlers ever invaded this house, jisung would gladly die before he had to witness them tear into felix. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix was the closest thing to family jisung had left. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he </span>
  <em>
    <span>would not lose him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>no matter what.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix knew he was lying. felix always knew when he lied. he knew when jisung told him he was okay with felix going to a different high school. he knew when jisung told him he was fine the morning after his parents had a particularly loud, nasty fight the night before. felix </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>knew. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix laid his head back down, picking up the beat of jisung’s heart once more. he knew jisung wasn’t fine. but then, who could be in the apocalypse?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>--- </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the next morning had come quicker than jisung thought it would, the sun streaming through the sheer curtains and heating up his human-blanket-covered body. at some point, he’d dozed off. multiple times, he remembered waking up and drifting off again, but he couldn’t count how many times it had happened and he didn’t really care to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>looking around the room, he could see chan through the doorway that lead to the dining room, sitting at the head of the table, nursing a cup of what was probably hot chocolate or tea, and not coffee, because the previous morning when jisung had offered a cup, the face chan pulled was almost enough to make jisung laugh. everyone else, though, was still sound asleep -- at least from what jisung could tell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix had somewhat rolled off of him during the night, so it wasn’t too difficult to slip out from beneath him. carefully avoiding mattresses and sprawled limbs, jisung made his way into the kitchen. he grabbed a peppa pig-themed mug from the cabinet and the pot of boiling water from the stove chan had graciously started. yesterday, after his “crawlers-are-attracted-to-coffee” revelation, he’d been wary when jeongin offered him some. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but then he realized all jeongin had was a half-full can of instant coffee, and decided he’d be okay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>because instant coffee was shit, and as barbaric as the crawlers were, even </span>
  <em>
    <span>they </span>
  </em>
  <span>had to have </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>taste.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>coffee mug in hand, jisung made his way into the dining room. chan looked up from his phone when he noticed jisung pulling out the chair to his left, keeping his voice low as he mumbled a “good morning.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung nodded back in lieu of a greeting, still not awake enough to really form a full sentence. or half of one, for that matter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan turned his phone to face jisung. he’d been reading an english article, jisung realized, and he didn’t even have to make it past the headline to know it wasn’t bearing any good news. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Monster Outbreak Already Reaching Europe; Africa Speculated to be Next</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a heavy sigh left jisung’s lips, that anxiety bubble from the night before coming back full force. “already? has the military even done <em>anything</em> to try to control it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan shrugged, turning his phone back around to scroll through the article. “it doesn’t say. i’ve been looking through articles for the past half-hour, and everything trending on twitter has been about the crawlers. but there’s nothing about what the military has done.” chan sighed, rubbing at his droopy eyes. “some people think maybe it’s a military experiment gone wrong, and that’s why they haven’t done anything. i don’t know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung ran through his knowledge of zombie apocalypses -- apocalypses in general -- and decided that it would make sense. this may be the real deal and not some fictional novel, comic, tv show, etc. but so far, it seemed all of the apocalyptic media had gotten a lot right, in a general sense. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung couldn’t remember how many webnovels he’d read where the zombie apocalypse started because a bunch of government scientists were having fun and accidentally let their experiments escape. he couldn’t remember how many apocalyptic tv shows he’d seen where the government tried to cover it up instead of trying to fix their mistakes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung nodded. he wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that was <em>exactly</em> how the real-life apocalypse had come to be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>changbin was the next one up to join them, his own spongebob mug in hand. he sat down across jisung, and chan was quick to show him the article. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>changbin’s face darkened, and his grip on the mug tightened. “i can’t believe we’re actually living through this shit,” he growled, careful to keep his voice low. they wouldn’t wake the others if they didn’t have to. then he took a deep breath, his eyes finding the dark liquid in his mug and latching onto it. “we got into an argument friday morning before dad left for his meeting. i found a bag of beer cans in the recycling bin and told him not to bother coming home that night if he was just gonna get drunk again and act like i didn’t exist.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan set his phone down and gripped onto changbin’s shoulder. “you know you were justified, right? he shouldn’t be drinking like that and he shouldn’t have tried to hide it from you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>changbin nodded and swallowed heavily. “i know. but i just… i wish our last conversation hadn’t been an argument. i would give anything--” changbin’s voice broke, and he leaned further over the table to hide his face from jisung and chan. “i wish i could have told him i loved him. he was an ass, but i still loved him.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung never really knew what to do in situations like this. especially not during day three of the <em>actual</em> apocalypse. but he couldn’t very well just let changbin wrestle with his regrets like this. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he remembered something changbin had told him back when they still worked at the record shop together, before the drinking had gotten worse and before changbin’s mom had officially stopped calling to check in on him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“we went golfing this weekend,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>changbin had told him. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>dad actually smiled for once. i think he had fun. i hope he knows i had fun.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>their relationship hadn’t been quite as strained back then, but jisung could tell changbin really did love his father. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung finally spoke up. “i think he knows you love him, hyung.” changbin glanced up at him. “you only argued with him caused you cared about him. and i think he knew that. i think he just… didn’t know how to let go of his addiction.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>changbin considered his words for a moment. he mulled them over, gaze locking back onto his untouched coffee. “maybe you’re right,” he finally mumbled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the conversation drifted off then, and chan showed them a few more articles. some were about the rapid spread of the crawlers, some were about how no action has really been taken to stop them. some were about the speculations that the government was the cause of the outbreak. some were about things they already knew, like how it appeared the crawlers had very limited hearing and relied mostly on smell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung felt proud of himself for figuring out the last one. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jeongin joined them not long after, hyunjin trailing after him like a lost puppy. chan greeted them. now that only two were left sleeping, he wasn’t as careful to keep his voice low. “sleep well?” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the bags under their eyes said “no, we did not, thank you.” but each of them nodded, probably too tired to really explain why they hadn’t. jeongin took the seat beside changbin, while hyunjin hesitantly pulled out the chair beside jisung. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung wasn’t great with new people. he only really made friends when people he was already friends with introduced him to their other friends. and even then, he didn’t know how to handle meeting them. hyunjin and minho -- and even chan and jeongin, really -- were no different. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>still, he had to make some effort to speak to them, especially if he would be living with them for the next who-knew-how-long. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he turned to hyunjin, strategically sipping on his coffee so he could act casual about it. “felix and minho moving yet?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>hyunjin seemed almost surprised jisung had willingly spoken to him, and jisung wondered just how much felix had told hyunjin about him. he probably knew how introverted jisung could be -- felix probably told him as a warning in case they’d ever be able to meet each other outside of school. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>well, they’d met each other. time to actually get to know each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>hyunjin got over his surprise fairly quickly. “minho hyung’s awake, for the most part. he refused to get out of bed, though. i think felix is still sound asleep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung nodded. “makes sense. felix always sleeps in late.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>hyunjn nodded, and with that, their conversation teetered off into oblivion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung was never good with new people. his racing heart was proof. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan didn’t show them any articles, nor did he bring up any of the government conspiracy theories they’d previously been discussing. jisung thought maybe he’d wait until the other two finally joined them so that he didn’t have to repeat it again. then jisung thought maybe he was trying not to let jeongin know how deep in proverbial shit they really were.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan seemed protective like that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung quietly sipped on his coffee, barely paying attention to any of the conversations going on. he could tell chan was trying to dig some sort of story out of hyunjin, and jeongin was pestering changbin about his loud snoring (changbin hadn’t snored last night, as far as jisung was aware). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>finally, he decided to go wake felix, assuming breakfast wouldn’t be made until everyone was awake. and jisung was hungry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung left his shitty coffee at the table, quietly muttering his plans before making his way into the living room. felix was still where jisung had left him, and minho was simply a mop of black hair buried beneath a pile of blankets. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix woke with the first nudge at his shoulder, unfocused, puffy eyes looking up at jisung in alarm. jisung smiled down at him, grabbing hold of the blanket and pulling it down away from the bottom half of felix’s face. “time to wake up, lix.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix’s confused gaze lingered on him a moment later before his eyes wandered the room. when he realized minho was the only other one left still in bed, he sat up and stretched out his limbs before throwing off the blanket. “morning,” he grumbled, standing up to latch himself onto jisung. “‘s there any coffee?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung frowned, holding up most of felix’s dead weight. “no coffee for you. we don’t need you bouncing off the walls.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix pouted up at him. “not even a little bit?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“just a tiny little bit?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...fine. i’ll go make you some. try to wake him--” jisung glanced toward minho, who was still a pile of hair beneath the blankets “--up while i do, please. we can’t make breakfast until everyone’s awake for some reason.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix nodded, satisfied enough with the little bit of coffee he would receive. he let go of jisung and stumbled over where minho lay, plopping himself down on the mattress and shoving at minho’s practically lifeless body. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung watched them for a moment before entering the kitchen. he grabbed a normal, black mug from the cabinet, filling it up about a fourth of the way with hot water. he used a significantly small amount of the instant coffee, stirring it around with a tiny little teaspoon as he made his way into the dining room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix had stolen jisung’s seat, and minho had taken the end of the table opposite chan, forehead pressed into the lacquered wood. there were still two seats on either side of the table because, apparently, jeongin’s family was big enough that they needed eight seats, so jisung didn’t exactly understand why felix chose to steal his chair. he didn’t necessarily care. he simply held the mug up into the air, refusing felix his carefully measured amount of coffee until he gave jisung back his seat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix ended up in jisung’s lap, but at least jisung had his seat back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung was hit with another thought of domesticity. the apocalypse wasn’t supposed to be this domestic -- this </span>
  <em>
    <span>familial</span>
  </em>
  <span>. and it hadn’t really reached the point of </span>
  <em>
    <span>family </span>
  </em>
  <span>yet. but he supposed they were one now, the seven of them against the apocalypse. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>breakfast, like promised, was carefully rationed. lunch and dinner were, too. sleep came the same as the night before. the power hadn’t gone out yet (a miracle) and they hadn’t learned much more about the crawlers; just that they had yet to make it to the americas and were invading most of northern africa. felix’s parents never answered the phone when felix called. jisung never tried to call his own again. the routine continued until thursday, when food had finally dwindled down to a singular egg and three packets of ramen noodles. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was time for a supply run. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“any volunteers?” chan asked. they were all gathered around the dining room table, which doubled as an eating space and their “meeting” area. chan and minho always sat at the ends of the table, everyone else filling the spaces in between. usually, the seating arrangement was the same, but sometimes felix or jeongin would mess it up without care, sitting wherever the fuck they wanted. “we only have enough weapons for three or four of us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung had made more of an effort to get closer to hyunjin and minho, with felix’s assistance. and so he didn’t necessarily want to risk their lives. he didn’t want to risk </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>of their lives. he was the first to raise his hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>felix shot him a look, but he ignored it. when felix went to raise his own hand, jisung held both of them down. felix locked him into a glaring match, struggling to raise one of his arms. but by the time he was able to get one loose, changbin and minho had already volunteered. jisung knew he was being selfish, but he couldn’t let felix risk his life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan, who they’d all accepted as their unofficial leader, was the fourth person. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung let out a sigh full of relief. </span>
  <em>
    <span>felix would be safe another day. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>now whether jisung could survive felix’s glare or not, that was a different story. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“alright,” chan clapped his hands together. “those of us going on the supply run, stay here so we can go over the plan. everyone else, you’re free to go.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jeongin was quick to stand up, not really one to willingly sit through a stressful planning session. hyunjin followed soon after, and he practically had to drag felix -- who still had an icy glare fixated on the side of jisung’s head-- out of his chair and into the living room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when they were all gone, minho and changbin moved down the table to sit closer to jisung and chan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i have something of a plan, but feel free to object or add anything.” chan started off. “better ideas are 100% welcomed.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>neither changbin nor minho spoke up, and jisung didn’t either. quite honestly, he hadn’t done much planning. he just knew that he had to volunteer before felix got the idea to, and keep felix from volunteering simply because jisung did. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan’s plan was similar to the one they used nearly a week ago when they got felix, minho, and hyunjin out of the school. there was a big department store a few miles away, and that’s where they would head first. if it was clear enough, they’d split into teams of two and find anything they deemed useful before bringing it out to the truck -- one person to grab shit off the shelves, the other to keep a lookout for crawlers roaming around inside the store. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it seemed simple enough in theory, but jisung knew it wouldn’t be that easy once they got there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“team 1 will be on food, and team 2 will go around the rest of the store and grab anything that looks useful -- like weapons, for example,” chan told them. “team 1 will be changbin and i, and team 2 will be jisung and minho. everyone good with that?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung wasn’t fully okay with being on team 2. it wasn’t that he despised minho or anything, he just would have preferred to be with someone he knew better. like changbin. or even chan, who seemed more trustworthy than a literal angel. but he nodded along with the other two, and the plan was set. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chan gave them half an hour to mentally prepare and get their weapons and shit together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when jisung walked through the doorway into the living room, felix practically barrelled into him, nearly knocking him over with the force of his hug. “i know why you did it,” felix told him, squeezing jisung tight. “just come back to me, sungie. please.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung wrapped his arms around felix the best he could. “i will. i promise, lix.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was a promise he intended to keep, no matter what.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i'm gonna try to update at least once a week, but i make no promises :)))</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. no longer handsome.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>jisung didn’t know whether to be surprised or not that the crawler population had increased since the last time he left the safety of jeongin’s house.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he supposed he shouldn’t be -- he’d known it was only a matter of time until they grew in numbers. he’d just hoped that maybe things would continue to be easy. hoped that maybe they’d be able to sail through the apocalypse-that-wasn’t-very-apocalyptic-yet smoothly enough that they wouldn’t have much lasting mental trauma by the end of it -- if there ever </span>
  <em>
    <span>would be</span>
  </em>
  <span> an end. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>still, it wasn’t as if the amount of crawlers had increased drastically, so he supposed he had that to be grateful for. instead of their population skyrocketing like in his old movies, the crawlers seemed to be slowly doubling. there were more clusters of them crawling together. they were closer in packs than they had been that saturday they’d saved felix and minho and hyunjin from their imminent doom at the high school. but it wasn’t a huge jump yet. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>a small comfort. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung had learned quickly to embrace small comforts when they were given. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>not literally, of course. he barely wanted to be within 100 yards of a crawler, let alone up close and personal with one.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he turned away from the window next to him, instead choosing to watch out the front as they made their way to the closest big supermarket/department store. chan was driving once more with changbin in the front seat, and minho had taken jeongin’s place in the back of the truck. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung almost missed jeongin’s presence. last time, he’d been jisung’s source of comic relief when things got a little too tense inside the vehicle. minho, instead, chose to stare outside his own window and remain silent, unhelpfully contributing to the heavy silence that hung over all of them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho hadn’t said much in the past four… five(?) days they’d all been together. jisung didn’t know if minho was taking the whole situation harder than the rest of them, or if he was simply just a quiet person. sometimes jisung found himself wondering what minho was thinking about. his first guess would be the kids left behind that were in the dance club; minho had seemed pretty torn up about leaving them behind. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he didn’t know how to comfort him, though, or how to tell minho that it wasn’t his fault and that they were the ones that had chosen to stay behind. jisung didn’t know if that was even what was bothering minho. jisung didn’t know if minho would appreciate jisung’s supposed “comfort,” or if he’d laugh in jisung’s face and tell him to “fuck off.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung didn’t think he would be quite that harsh, but he didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>know minho</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>so he, too, kept his mouth shut. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>-- until a thought that had been nagging at him for the past week resurfaced. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“what do you think happened to all the people?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung saw chan glance at him in the rearview mirror, and minho turned to face him, his attention finally turned away from the window. changbin turned to the side to show jisung he was listening. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“probably dead or hiding,” changbin offered. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“well, yeah,” jisung scoffed. “but i mean -- friday -- i feel like there should have been more people running around -- crazy pandemonium, you know? but i never saw anyone other than you two and jeongin until saturday.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you watch too many zombie movies.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung felt the strong urge to kick the back of changbin’s seat. “i’m serious, hyung. i might have been locked in my basement for the first ten hours of the apocalypse, but there still should have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone </span>
  </em>
  <span>running around when i left.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you were locked in your basement?” minho mused, talking for what felt like the first time in at least the last twelve hours. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung gave him the short version of the story. “crawlers broke into my house; i hid in my basement; broke out like nine hours later and kicked ass before </span>
  <em>
    <span>hauling </span>
  </em>
  <span>ass and changbin-hyung then </span>
  <em>
    <span>saved </span>
  </em>
  <span>my ass.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho hummed in acknowledgment. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“anyway,” jisung continued. “you might be right -- maybe i </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>watch too many zombie movies. but unless they were all dumb enough to get eaten within the first ten hours, there definitely should have been more people trying their luck outside. there weren’t enough dead bodies lying around for them to have all been killed so fast, either.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“don’t think about it too much, ji,” changbin warned him. but jisung knew that now changbin would be thinking about it too -- and probably chan and minho, as well. he almost felt guilty for giving them another thing to worry about on top of everything else. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>but it bothered him that the only human life he’d found was in his small group, and the dumbasses looting on saturday. it just… didn’t sit right with him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he definitely consumed </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>too much apocalypse-related content. if they made it out of the whole thing alive, if things ever went back to normal, he’d have to rethink some of his interests. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“not everyone’s as stupid as we are.” changbin said. chan was pulling into the parking lot of the big store they were preparing to rob. thankfully, only four crawlers had made that particular parking lot their hunting grounds. “they were all probably safe in their homes.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“i thought i was safe in my home, too.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you’re so fucking dramatic.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you would be too if your house was broken into by the undead!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“please, stop fighting,” chan grumbled. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>. i already have a headache.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“sorry hyung,” jisung and changbin chorused. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>getting into the store wasn’t all that hard, but that didn’t mean jisung’s nerves weren’t skyrocketing. they followed the same plan that had been successful on saturday, but that didn’t mean jisung was any more confident they’d still be alive to make it back to the truck. he wasn’t wandering alone, he had minho (wielding a nasty-looking crowbar) by his side, katana in hand, but that didn’t make him feel any more secure. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung tried not to think too much about where they were, what they were doing, who he wasn’t with. he tried to convince himself that he and minho were just having a normal shopping spree, grabbing random things they might need from the shelves and tossing them into the cart minho was pushing. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>we’re just going shopping, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he told himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>we’re just robbing a superstore. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>but the overall emptiness and silence that echoed across the store felt mocking. it was like a heavy weight that jisung couldn’t shove off no matter how hard he tried. neither he nor minho talked, too tense and terrified to utter a sound.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung made sure to grab plenty of melatonin when they went down the medicine aisle, while minho basically swiped everything from the shelves into the cart. jisung grabbed some boxes of hair dye down the next aisle, shrugging minho’s questioning look off. they grabbed plenty of shampoo and conditioner and body wash, and anything else they all might need. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they even went back for a second shopping cart, carefully scoping out every turn and looking down every aisle before proceeding, just to be sure they’d be safe crossing. still, they didn’t dare to say a word. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they were more towards the back of the store when they heard it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>a low growl. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>it was hard to pinpoint where exactly the sound had come from. it echoed across the whole store, loud and menacing and sending jisung’s spine rigid. he heard minho’s breath hitch behind him, and he turned to make eye contact. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho looked terrified.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“we need to go.” minho’s voice was barely audible, but jisung didn’t need to be told twice. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they’d found enough supplies to last them for months, hopefully. if anyone needed something they neglected to grab, they could come back and get it themselves. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>as they carefully made their way back toward the front of the store, paces brisk and hearts pounding,  jisung could only hope that chan and changbin were doing the same. he didn’t think he and minho could lift their carts onto the back of the truck by themselves, and he quite urgently wanted to get out of there and back to the house as soon as possible. like, right now. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>when jisung peeked around the corner of the next aisle, he nearly jumped out of his skin. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>there, hunched down on the floor, head between his knees in a shaking ball, sat a person. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>a real, live person. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>holy fuck. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>he looked up when he heard jisung’s gasp, eyes widening as he scrambled backward. he looked -- understandably -- terrified. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>they stared at each other for a long moment. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung turned and made eye contact with minho, a silent question in his eyes; </span>
  <em>
    <span>what the hell do we do now?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>but then minho pushed forward, struggling to get his cart to move. when he was standing beside the boy, he leaned down close enough to whisper, “come with us.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>and then he was moving on, gesturing for jisung to follow him. jisung gaped at him for a moment, but minho was already hurrying to the end of the aisle. with one last look at the terrified boy on the ground, jisung hurried to follow minho, practically yanking on the boy’s shirt as he passed to get him up off the ground and moving. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“stick close and tread carefully,” jisung told him. he nodded, eyes impossibly wide. he seemed eager to comply, despite his trembling and obvious hesitance at being around strangers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>anything to survive, jisung supposed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the boy clung to jisung’s sleeve up until they made it to the front of the store, where chan and changbin were already waiting. they stood on either side of the doors, their bodies hidden from sight outside, while their heads peeked around the corners. changbin looked over when the three of them pulled their carts to a stop. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“we have a problem,” he sighed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>when jisung came up beside him and peeked around the doorway, he felt like throwing up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the crawlers had multiplied, alright. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>there had to be at least fifteen of them, all crowding around the parking lot. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>the growl came again -- inside the store with them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>there was no way out of this. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung turned, inadvertently locking eyes with minho. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>we’re all gonna die.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung sucked in a deep breath. if they were going to die that day, then he might as well… “i think you’re really hot.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho’s eyes went wide. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>changbin flicked the back of jisung’s neck and whispered harshly, “are those seriously going to be your last words?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung fell to the floor. “might as well be. you’re really fucking beautiful, hyung.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho fell down beside him. “you're really stupid,” he said. but he was pulling jisung’s head down onto his shoulder anyway.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung was going to cry. he was going to burst into tears at any moment cause he was going to die and he'd never even had his first kiss and he still didn't know what had happened to his parents and he was going to break his promise to felix and  --</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>chan came up to the group, barely sparing their new addition a glance. “we’re not going to die here,” he proclaimed. his tone was firm and determined. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“we’re stuck, hyung,” changbin reasoned. “there has to be, like, twenty of them outside, and there’s at least one in here. either way, we’re dead. we can’t just wait for the ones outside to leave, otherwise, we’ll become</span>
  <em>
    <span> this one’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> dinner.” he gestured toward the back of the store, where a crawler was currently lurking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho chewed on his lip. “i… i have a plan… but i’m not sure any of you are going to like it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“how could you possibly have a plan? this is hopeless.” changbin crossed his arms over his chest. jisung felt minho’s hand in his hair. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>minho heaved out a heavy sigh. “not necessarily. my… my plan involves live bait.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>jisung pulled back. he didn’t think minho meant to look at him. maybe it was just a reflex or maybe in trying to escape changbin’s incredulous gaze his eyes accidentally landed on jisung. but he suddenly had a horrible sense of foreboding and thought that maybe getting eaten by a crawler would be better than whatever scheme minho had cooking up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“you’re no longer handsome.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
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